


The World Ain't That Small

by Ididntsignupforthisshit (myhamartia)



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And Jack is the fandom's golden boy, Bisexual David Jacobs, Fandom Politics, Fandom Shenanigans, M/M, NaNoWriMo, Ollie's NaNoWrimo Project 2K17, Texting, They've got... a Discord, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Trans boy! Elmer, Trans girl! Sarah, Wherein the boys are fic writers, along with most of the other newsies tbh, also Tumblr Shenanigans, group chats, it's a mess, the kids get into a lot of stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-01-31 18:41:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12687996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhamartia/pseuds/Ididntsignupforthisshit
Summary: David would never really consider his life terribly cliche. He lived the life of a simple bisexual, simply trying to survive college. He had his personal happy place - a fandom for a television show namedThe Roundabouts.He wrote stories for it in his spare time, and had a decent little following. It was fun, a good way to spend his time and practice his creative writing.See? Not really cliche.Sohowdid he end up meetingJack Kellyin the most cliche, fan-fiction-esque way possible!?Or: How David Jacobs met Jack Kelly, his fandom's top writer... in a cafe, like a souped up soulmate AU.





	1. A Half-Baked Fanfic

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my NaNoWriMo project this year. I'm  _hella_ excited about it! There won't be scheduled updates for now, but hopefully there will be Soon.
> 
> I hope you like it! Don't forget to comment when you're done

When David Jacobs first met Jack Kelly, there were no fireworks, no spontaneous psychic revelations where one, or both of them just _knew_ what lied ahead of the road for them.

Of course, they didn’t. What was this, a half-plotted fan fiction? Don’t be ridiculous.

With what happened over the next few weeks, David wouldn’t have been too hard-pressed to deny the fact. He really should have called it after their very first meeting. After all, that was the biggest, most cliche trope in the book!

_The coffee shop._

It rained that Monday afternoon, and the air was heavy with humidity. It made David pull at the collar of his button down. He ended up popping two buttons before getting to the _News To Me_ cafe just down the boulevard from his college campus.

Inside the cafe was much cooler. David gave his silent thanks to the creators of the AC as he crossed the floor to take a seat at the bar stretched around the register and work stations.

The boy behind the counter smiled at David. The tag clipped to his white apron showed that his name was Elmer.

"Can I get you something?" he asked, tone boasting about energy David _wished_ he could possess.

"A large iced chai tea, please."

"Coming up," Elmer said, punching a few things into the computer in front of him.

"Thanks," David said back. He removed his satchel from his shoulder and instead hooked it over the back of his chair. He took his laptop from the satchel and carefully placed it on the dark speckled counter in front of him.

A moment later and David had his tea, gotten a chocolate scone, and payed for it all. He pinched off a piece of his scone with one hand as the other hand made itself busy connecting his laptop to the cafe's free wifi.

He had just pulled up his email and various social medias in his web browser, when the backed stool next to him was pulled out and a young man sat down confidently. The man had an aged macbook under his arm as he tried to maneuver his backpack under his stool. David watched him warily as he almost dropped his laptop twice before settling it to the counter before him. The man went about, setting his things up to mirror David's work station.

David watched out of the corner of his eye at the young man. He moved about confidently - like this was perfectly routine for him. David spotted the little wifi window at the corner of his screen. The wifi connected automatically. _A conspiracy was forming._

Further proof of his regularity happened when Elmer came back in front of David, though he looked at the new boy this time.

"Hey'ya Jack!" His energy magnified tenfold at the sight of the newcomer. "The usual?"

The man, this _Jack_ fellow, gave Elmer a show-stopping grin, all perfect teeth and charm. "You got it, Elm," he said, winking like it was common practice.

Elmer shot him a finger gun before scurrying off to make the mysterious _Usual_ order.

The man, as if feeling David's curious eyes on him, looked over at him. David, who flushed from getting caught, instantly dropped his eyes and went back to his computer.

"Well, hello there," the young man said. He leaned forward a bit, his hand halfway between his space and David's.

"Hi," David said back, his mouth twitching in a nervous sort of smile. He plucked a bit of his scone apart and stuck it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, deliberately. He tried to stop the blush that traveled up his neck and to the tips of his ears, but he was finding it rather hard when he could still feel the man's eyes on him.

"Don't think I've seen you here before. You new around here?"

David shook his head. "I go to college right around here," he shared, "I just don't usually venture far off of campus."

"SFUAD?" the boy asked, eyes bright. David nodded, eyeing him. "Well, hey! So do I."

David's eyebrows rose. "Really? I've never seen you around campus."

"It's a big-ass campus, buddy," the guy said, laughter in his voice.

"I guess you're right," David laughed uneasily. He glanced over to his computer and found that his Tumblr activity page had loaded.

"Here you are, Jack," Elmer said, coming back with some kind of medium iced tea and a small bag of baked goods.

The man thanked him before turning back to David. "So yeah. Name's Jack. A digital artist major."

"I'm David. Classical performing arts major."

Jack's eyes lit up again. "Oh, you're a _theater major_ , then."

"In so many words? Yeah." David laughed.

"You got a nice laugh, Davey," Jack told him gleefully.

Well, David didn't know how to respond to _that_! He stammered for a moment before sighing in defeat. He murmured a simple "Thank you," before going back to his laptop in shame.

Jack's smile didn't fade (from what David could see from the corner of his eyes), but David still hunkered down in embarrassment.

After a minute, Jack went back to doing his own thing, sipping on his tea.

David sighed minutely and pulled up a tab on his browser. The Discord chat was oddly active, considering there was only a fair few of them in the chat, and that it was two o'clock on a Wednesday.

He took himself off of invisible mode and planted himself right in the middle of the _#general_ chat.

> **Goliath** today at 14:12   
>  _Siri, why do I always embarrass myself in front of the cute boys?_
> 
> **3rd mario bro** today at 14:12   
>  oh noooo!!!   
>  what happened??
> 
> **Goliath** today at 14:14   
>  I came into the little cafe to get a little homework done and a tea and this cute boy “Jack” started talking to me. Long story short, he's still sitting beside me, but he's pretty and I'm scared.
> 
> **mariobroinlaw** today at 14:14   
>  understandable. im scared of pretty people too   
>  like   
>  what gives you the right to be so attractive?!?!?!   
>  ;-;
> 
> **3rd mario bro** today at 14:15   
>  some would say the same about you ;)
> 
> **mariobroinlaw** today at 14:15   
>  Fgisfghjhgtfrdfhygtfrdfghbnjhygtrfdefgvbhnjygtf   
>  _you just_   
>  **_I_ ** **_  
> _ ** d i e s
> 
> **Goliath** today at 14:17   
>  yall are cute and all but Not Helping
> 
> **mariobroinlaw** today at 14:18   
>  sorry kiddo.
> 
> **Goliath** today at 14:17   
>  It's fine. I have to go anyhow. Gotta chapter I need to finish.
> 
> **3rd mario bro** today at 14:18   
>  good luck!!
> 
> **mariobroinlaw** today at 14:18   
>  Yes!!!   
>  Get that writing done!!! show it who's boss!!!

With a smile, David clicked away from the Discord tab, mind set on going to work. Well, he was _going_ to. Honest to God. Until an email pop up came up at the bottom of his screen. A chapter update at first glance, but upon closer inspection, David had to keep himself from gasping.

Without a second of hesitation, David clicked on the Archive Of Our Own email, his eyes skimming down the details.

> MajorNews posted a chapter of **_Planets Align_ ** (84,164 words)
> 
> **_Chapter 12: Happy Trails_ ** (7,982) _  
>  _ _by_ _Major News_
> 
> **Chapters:** 12/12  
>  **Fandom:** The Roundabouts  
>  **Rating:** Mature Audiences  
>  **Warnings:** Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings  
>  **Relationships:** Roselyn Smalls/Daz  Rodriguez, Nicoli Smalls  & Taryn Small,  
>  **Characters:** Roselyn Smalls, Daz Rodriguez, Taryn Conrad, Callie Rodriguez, Nicoli Smalls, Collin Martin, Ash Smalls, Taryn’s Incessant Hate For Ash Smalls  
>  **Additional Tags:** that’s right that isn’t a tag but its own Entity, Alternate Universe - 1940’s Era, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, shit gets steamy kiddies watch yourself, Family Issues, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Politics, Buckle up fucks this is going to be one hell of a ride
> 
> **Summary:**
> 
> **A vaguely historic Notebook AU, but better, featuring** **_lesbians_ **

 

David stared at the words "Happy Trails" and "Chapters 12/12" for nearly fifteen seconds before he could bring himself to click on the the update.

With bated breath, he pulled up the last chapter of his favorite fic and began to read.

-

It was devastating. Utterly and completely devastating.

David was left with a shattered heart and a lack of impulse control that held him back from shooting the author a message on tumblr.

Now, something needs to be explained about Mr. MajorNews. He was a God to this fandom.

He was one people went to when new content dropped, just to get his reactions and thoughts. He was the one people tried to start up discourse with just to get attention.

He was what some called The Shepard, on account of his entrance to his current fandom.

Major, as most called him, was a big account for some fandom gone by, David wasn't exactly sure for which one. Major found himself slowly integrating from his old fandom into the new, bright, shiny fandom of The Roundabouts. He herded his followers along like young, impressionable sheep to greener, better pastured.

He had a hand in why the fandom grew as it did, and he was revered.

Now, he rode with the big names in the fandom. The top notch artists, writers-event leaders and theorists were real fucking chummy with this guy, thus admitting him into what Sarah, David's sister, called The Cult.

It wasn't so much as a "cult" as it was a clique. A circle of friends everyone wanted in on, but everyone was too fucking intimidated to try it.

But, hey. David'll digress, because that didn't matter for now. What mattered was the text he typed out into the little white box of doom.

> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Hey, Major. We've literally never had a direct interaction, but you've somehow managed to murder me???

David rather views this as a vent box. Major probably wasn't even going to see it. So, David thought he was safe.

What a fool he was.

> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** see, I just finished Planets Align, and now I feel like a whole emotional mess, falling apart in a coffee shop like some cliche fic and Oh My Good God.

Feeling sufficiently vented, David let out a breath, ferociously tore off a bite from his scone and took a long, _long_ sip of his iced tea.

The boy beside him, who David nearly forgot was there shifted from almost giggling at his computer screen, to looking at David with curious dark eyes.

"What'd that scone ever do to you, huh?" he asked, drawing David's attention.

"I, uh," he stammered, the scone still guiltily between his fingers. "Sorry." He dropped the pastry to his napkin sheepishly. He picked up a separate napkin and twisted his fingers in it. "I was reading a book online and I just finished it."

Jack's eyebrows rose curiously. "I guess it wasn't no sunshine and roses?"

David snorted. "Absolutely not." He paused before going on, "That's actually kind of the author's style. Most of his endings are so bitter sweet. And they hurt so badly. And you can't even be mad, because he writes it so well! It's realistic, and it captures your attention and doesn't let you look away."

"Sounds like this guy's got you good," Jack observed, an amused light in his eyes.

"Understatement of the century."

Jack hummed. "Well, AirDrop it to me, so we can suffer together," he said suddenly, like it was a Lit Light Bulb Moment.

David paused for a second, fully seeing the dilemma put in front of him. He was aware that the reactions to fan fiction were mixed at best, especially when the statistics were about men's reaction to it.

David also had no idea how this boy would react to David suddenly dropping an 80K AU loosely based off of the Notebook, but to the tune of _historic lesbians_ in his AirDrop inbox.

Nevertheless, he swallowed guiltily, muttering "Sure," in such a way he was sure that Jack thought he was about to send him porn.

A small ping came through Jack’s earphones loud enough for David to hear, and Jack quickly looked over the link that David sent him.

The page began to load, but stopped short after just the bar and logo atop the page loaded.

“Ah! The Archive. Good taste, Dave. I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to be the one to educate you away from places like Wattpad.” Jack grinned at David, looking back and forth between him and the computer screen.

David blanched, but didn’t soon recount his exodus from other sites that hosted such kinds of fanworks. Finally, the page loaded fully, taking Jack’s attention back. He looked it over, surprise coming to his eyes, and a laugh to his throat. “Did you see me upload this, or something?” he asked, mirth coloring his words.

David frowned. “What? What do you mean?”

Jack lifted an eyebrow at him. “You saw me post the chapter, right? Thought it’d be funny to tell me about it?”

David shifted in his seat. “Are you telling me that _you’re_ Major!?” he said, refusing to believe what Jack was saying.

“C’mon, Davey. The world ain’t that small.” He voiced David’s thoughts exactly. “Dude, come on,” he said when David didn’t fess up. In reality, David did little more than stare at Jack in disbelief. And then it clicked. “Wait, you serious?” he asked, eyes wide.

David bobbed his head. “Yeah. I had no idea. I - I couldn’t even _see_ your screen!”

Jack laughed. “I guess the world really is that small,” he said with a shake of his head. “That’s fucking ridiculous.”

“I can’t believe it,” David said, absolutely flabbergasted. And then his eyes widened horrifically. “Oh my God. _You’re_ Major.”

“Yeah, I think we got that figured out.”

“Oh my God,” David repeated. “What were you _thinking!?_ ”

Jack frowned. “What do you mean?”

“How could you end it like that?” David demanded. He had to reign himself in from being too loud in the public space. “Roselyn deserved _so_ much better than what you gave her. Christ.” He shook his head and took another angry bite of scone.

Jack put his hands up defensively. “Look, Davey, I was technically borrowing from canon. ‘Cause, you know, if you smear the details and shit, you could say _my_ Roselyn met the same fate as in the show: because of homophobia instilled in her parents, she wasn’t allowed to live her life fully and happily, _even after_ they died, because that internalized homophobia was still deeply rooted in her. That affected her in way much deeper than on the surface, and it eventually bubbled up and made her break Daz’ heart and leave them both miserable, until Roselyn inevitably fell apart and wasted away.”

It made sense, but dammit, David _wasn’t_ having it. “That’s bullshit.”

“You’re bullshit.”

“What the heck?” David threw up his hands. “That doesn’t even make sense?”

Jack huffed and sank back against his stool. ”Fine. Sorry,” he said like a petulant child.

They sat together in a tense silence, Jack’s arms crossed, pouting, and David eating his scone viciously.

“I thought you said that you liked it,” Jack said after a minute.

David whined and melted onto the bar, pressing his forehead into his arms. “ _I do_ .” He jolted up, gesturing widely with his hands. “It was so freaking good. You captured them so well. Your characterization was immaculate; I could actually read all of the dialogue in their voices, which is difficult for a lot of our writers to accomplish. It was. _So good_. It’s insane.”

Jack was smiling so much, David could practically _hear_ it.

“You sound like you’d be real great at writing comments. Genuine book reviews.”

David flushed. “I’ve been known to fill up the character limit,” he admitted shyly. He got teased for it, too. _Oh, David’s going to write me a novel in response to my work!_ He grimaced and took a drink.

“Every creator’s dream right there, Davey. Bet you’re _real_ popular with the writers.” Jack smile was bright and just a little bit awed.

David snorted. “Right. _Totally_.”

Jack looked like he was going to say something else, but the barista came back up the counter, looking at Jack.

“Hey,” he said. Jack instantly gave him his full attention. “My shift just ended; I can walk home by myself, if you’re all wrapped up here.”

“Nonsense,” he said, like it was a ridiculous notion. “Uh,” he turned back to David as he shut the lid of his laptop, “well, I gotta get, Davey.”

David offered a little smile. “It was nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you around campus.”

“Now _Dave_. Can’t just leave that up to chance.” Jack hummed. “You got a tumblr? You could message me.” He shrugged a shoulder, a cool demeanor exuding from him.

David laughed. “Sure. I’m _whatspunispun_.” Jack giggled at the URL. “Nothing weird with spelling, or anything.”

“Nice. I’m MajorNews.”

David held his _I know, I follow you_ back and instead smiled. “Cool.”

Jack grinned back. “Cool.” He went back to gathering up his things and shoving them unceremoniously in his bag.

The barista (David vaguely recalled his name as Elmer) came back around, shrugging a hoodie on as he went. He stood at Jack’s elbow, looking curiously at him. “Post the chapter today?” he asked.

Jack bobbed his head. “Yep. I’m already collecting the tears as we go.” Elmer laughed. “Oh yeah. Elm. This is Davey. Just met him. He’s in-fandom, too.”

Elmer smiled and waved. “Oh? What a weird coincidence. I’m Elmer. Nice to meet you.”

“Hey, you too.” David smiled at him.

Jack finished packing up his things and stood up. He took his tea and his little paper bag of pastry crumbs in-hand and swiveled around. “Well. We’ll catch you later, Davey, we gotta get a move on.”

“Alright. Safe trip.”

“Ha. Thank you!” Elmer said before he and Jack left the cafe.

David sank into his stool again, replaying that whole interaction in his head.

_What the hell kind of day was this?_

It was only later, after he got home, that David remembered the few messages that he sent to Jack. He crumpled into his dorm room floor in a puddle of mortification.


	2. Think It's Fate?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the Gang appears for a little bit. via discord lmao
> 
> Here's the kids who appear, and their screen-names:
> 
> Real Man™ - Romeo  
> discount Sonci - Race  
> Big Papa Mod #1 - Albert  
> Unofficial Fluff Uncle - Crutchie  
> major fuckinf mess - Jack
> 
> so yeah
> 
> have fun, enjoy and don't forget to leave me a comment at the end!

David decided that he really wasn’t going to go much farther than his Puddle of Mortification. He sat on the floor, with his back up against the bed and his laptop open on his thighs. He was trying to complete the chapter he was supposed to be working on earlier. His fingers tapped on the keyboard quickly, like it would drown out the anxiety trying to wiggle its way into his ears.

He worked in intervals of about seven minutes before he would tap _ctrl+T_ and pull up his tumblr. He would check his messages (None. Big surprise, huh?) and then click off, fingers quickly going back to writing.

Rinse, write, check, repeat.

Finally, he slumped against the mattress. He had debated telling Kath and Sarah the whole ordeal, but he hadn’t yet come to a decision about it. He was really just wishing that he would wake up, finally revealing the whole thing to be one big, stressful nightmare.

He blew out a breath and looked back over his writing. Looking back over it, he found it sporadic.Rushed. The fluffy scene had turned awkward on him, with the characters at a collective loss for words, every one of them looking at each other like they were frightened rabbits. Or… _something_ like that.

The point was, David ruined his scene and he didn’t know how to get it back on track. He was probably going to have to rewrite it all. He was ready to bang his head against the floor, or the wooden edge of his bed frame, just to make him stop thinking about it all.

And he was only partially talking about his fic.

Finally, he sighed and closed his doc. He opened tumblr just _one more goddamn time_ , purely to go through some kind of positivity tag, or something. He needed to look at a cute puppy for a little bit, maybe it would help him.

As soon as he opened the page, he saw the little blue bubble in the top right hand corner of his screen and frowned. He almost didn’t want to click it. Worries ate at the pit of his stomach and made him second guess everything he had done that day. It shamed him for reaching out to Major - _Jack? Was David allowed to call him that?_ \- and rubbed the fact that he hadn’t yet gotten a response in his face.

Except he had gotten a response.

That was, quite possibly, even more terrifying.

After a moment of internal conflict, David moused over clicked on the bubble. There was the little blue dot hovering right next to majornews’ tab. He didn’t read the preview, just clicked it and pulled up the chat window.

> **whatspunispun**   
>  Hey, Major. We've literally never had a direct interaction, but you've somehow managed to murder me???
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  see, I just finished Planets Align, and now I feel like a whole emotional mess, falling apart in a coffee shop like some cliche fic and Oh My Good God.

And then his reply:

> **majornews**   
>  i think that this has only gotten funnier with age honestly

He ran a hand over his face, groaning internally. _What an idiot he was_.

David didn’t let himself dwell on the message he sent, just getting it out as quickly as he could.

> **whatspunispun**   
>  I am going to take this opportunity to die, thanks
> 
> **majornews**   
>  D: what the fuck noooooooo
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  There’s literally no hope for me
> 
> **majornews**   
>  [sent a gif that totally shows how offended he is]   
>  you come into my house   
>  die in MY home
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Sorry, I dont make the rules, Major
> 
> **majornews**   
>  you don’t have to call me that, you kno   
>  you can call me jack if you want
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Oh - I wasn’t sure since yknow
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  I Actually, I honestly don’t even know
> 
> **majornews**   
>  well i did introduce myself as jack so you have total permission to exploit that if you want tbh *shrug*
> 
> **majornews**   
>  hell you could call me jacob if you wanted

David frowned in confusion, squinting at his screen.

> **whatspunispun**   
>  Jacob??
> 
> **majornews**   
>  yeah totally   
>  Jack’s a nickname afterall
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Huh.
> 
> **majornews**   
>  yeah, it’s a p weird name tbh. hence jack
> 
> **majornews**   
>  oh! davey btw elmer thought us meeting was totally hilarious earlier and he hasn’t stopped talking about it
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Elmer?   
>  Oh right   
>  He works at the cafe, right?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  yeah, exactly!   
>  he thought we had met before or something
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Well it wouldn’t exactly be a leap. Those were pretty odd circumstances, weren’t they?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  it was absolutely   
>  but you gotta ask, Davey
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Ask what?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  well i mean Obviously -   
>  think it’s fate?
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Fate?   
>  Been reading too many soulmate stories, have we?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  eh. Maybe   
>  or maybe im just a hopeful romantic /pointed stare/

David’s neck was red and he resisted the urge to tug on his collar. And suddenly, all he could think of was how Jack grinned at him. An endless audio of _You got a nice laugh_ floated between his ears, and David was ready to sink back into his Puddle of Mortification.

It seemed like a good place to spend the rest of his miserable life in, huh?

> **majornews**   
>  altho my brother will argue that it aint “hopeful” but rather “hopeless”
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  *snort*   
>  My little brother says I’m not enough of a romantic   
>  A bit of a cynic, he says

It’s true. David would say something about his romantic life (rather, the lack thereof), and Les would berate him, saying that he needed a brighter outlook on life.

Ha. David couldn’t even defend himself because he _knew_ it was true.

> **majornews**   
>  humbug.   
>  i see your little old collection of cute, romantic drabbles, dave, Dont Think I Dont

David frowned. He flushed deeper, feeling uncomfortably hot in embarrassment.

> **whatspunispun**   
> ...You have?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  well it’s linked on your blog   
>  hah   
>  kinda read a few of your drabbles   
>  you’re a really good writer, Davey!
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Hah. Thank you. It means a lot.
> 
> **majornews**   
>  anythin g i can do ;)   
>  seriously tho like i kinda thought you’d be a good writer when we were arguing in the cafe   
>  you seem the type to write these really long, articulate as fuck essays in response to things that piss you off

David melted. He put his laptop on the ground and lied on his stomach in front of it.

> **whatspunispun**   
>  Is that a good thing?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  Fuck yeah. make s you seem hella smart
> 
> **majornews**   
>  which im sure is the truth. youre definitely the smart type, davey
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Well, thank you
> 
> **majornews**   
>  oh shit   
>  I gotta make sure my roommate doesnt accidentally kill himself with a blender i gotta run davey
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Oh my God.   
>  Good luck!

David shut his laptop lid with a certain stillness. A kind of calm where he was still trying to process a situation where everything.

What kind of weird, weird turn has his life taken?

    David reread the conversation the following morning. Just as unbelievable as the first day, if you’d believe it.

He was certain that the end of their conversation would be their last.

Like a conversation with a distant cousin, the dialogue would be fine for a fraction of a moment, and then one or both of them would falter. There would be an awkward, silent pause, and then one of them would scamper off to a familiar face and relaxed conversation.

David was certain that he would never be able to read anything of Major’s - Jack’s? - again without flushing madly and shrinking away. Just like that morning, he had been scrolling through tumblr on his phone before he got out of bed, when he ran across a post of Jack’s.

> **majornews**
> 
> just had one of the funniest experiences ever and i wanna write a drabble on it
> 
> _someone, quick!_ talk me out of it!
> 
> _#major mumbles #soulmate au anyone? #seriously someone stop me #i just finished a story i dont need to be drawn into another one_
> 
> 18 notes

David tried very hard to deny to himself that the post was about them in the cafe, but failed. Miserably. There was that embarrassing, gut wrenching feeling again.

So really, suffice to say that David did _not_ expect Jack to message him again.

         Then again, Jack was just _full_ of surprises, wasn’t he?

The sound of the incoming message startled David. He closed his notebook, using a pencil to mark his place before he picked up his phone.

> **majornews**   
>  okay so davey
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Yeah?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  I want you to look at this and give me your genuine, honest to god reaction. dont even think just type and send ok?
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  O...kay?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  ok

The next message was a picture attachment of a chocolate Labrador puppy. Its eyes were wide and innocent, the _perfect_ example of Puppy Dog Eyes. David was 100% sure that this puppy would get _all_ of the extra treats from him, without hesitation.

> **whatspunispun**   
>  I’m   
>  Oh my god   
>  Is he yours?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  she is not, sadly   
>  im trying to get my brother and elmer to let me adopt her   
>  so im taking a poll to present to them as an argument   
>  so? gonna back me up?
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  What have the others said?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  i’ve got it in a doc hang on let me copy it
> 
> **majornews**   
>  Albo - nah (can be persuaded), Charlie - no (doesn’t count, as he is the enemy), Davey - to be determined, Elmer - NO (again, The Enemy), Race - yes, Romeo - yes, Specs - no, Spot - undecided
> 
> **majornews**   
>  So as you can see - it’s all tied up and you’re my swing vote
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  You have 4 no’s and two yesses   
>  Why so many??   
>  Also Spot hasn’t voted?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  he’s offline so i mean he doesnt count   
>  and didnt you see tho charlie and elmer dosent count   
>  and they think my parenting skills are lacking just because you leaave your brother in Target ONE TIME and now they neVER let me forget it
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Huh.
> 
> **majornews**   
>  So? yay?   
>  nay?   
>  am i adopting Marz or not?
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Honestly, I would be terrified that you’d leave the puppy somewhere.   
>  It’s a no from me.
> 
> **majornews**   
>  GAH!   
>  IM CRUSHED   
>  BUT DAVEY I LOVE HER!
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  /laughs/   
>  Are you always such a drama queen, Jack?
> 
> **majornews**   
>  Uhm   
>  Always.   
>  You’re just like the boys in the gc D: so quick to doubt me
> 
> **whatspunispun**   
>  Something tells me that that’s the right choice here :/
> 
> **majornews**   
>  im tellin them you said that

He was gone for a moment, and then came back and sent an image to David, a screen cap from a Discord chat.

> **Real Man™** today at 12:38   
>  Git Fukt, Jack!!
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 12:38   
>  w o w   
>  when you try to gather sympathy from your New Friend™ and they obliterate you,,,
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 12:39   
>  keep him   
>  he’s a v good judge of character
> 
> **major fuckinf mess** today at 12:39   
>  _hisses_   
>  _y’all hurt me_
> 
> **Unofficial Fluff Uncle** today at 12:40   
>  Weak. You are not strong enough, nor good enough to be that puppy’s father.
> 
> **major fuckinf mess** today at 12:40   
> !clutchchest
> 
> **Bot752** today at 12:40   
>  [gif of a man clutching his heart, falling backwards]

David just laughed.

> **whatspunispun**   
>  GFfhgfsjgjjhhfdjkjghn   
>  Y’all are a riot.
> 
> **majornews**   
>  why thank you ;)

Oh Christ.

The end of the conversation had David hoping that that conversation wouldn’t be their last one.

And… it wasn’t. They kept talking. It was very odd and awkward at first, but that initial cold casing melted off,  and David found himself grinning every time he got a new notification. Talking with Jack rarely left him without a smile.

He had yet to tell Kath and Sarah about it, though. David would admit that he was more than a little worried about what they would say to the whole situation. It was kind of a sore spot. Like he knew that he probably _ought to_ share the details with them, but he just… couldn’t bring himself to, oddly.

At least he couldn’t until Saturday, as he poured over math homework, a pounding headache thudding in the forefront of his skull.

A phone call came in, and he really knew that he should have finished his homework before allowing himself any distractions, but that knowledge _really_ didn't stop him from picking up Sarah's call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Davey," she said warmly. She sounded happy, like David could hear her very smile in her voice. "What'cha doing?"

He rolled over on his bed with a little sound. He looked up at the roof with disinterest. "Talking to you."

"Funny. What were you up to before I called?" she tried again.

David shot a disdainful look at his open math textbook.

"Homework."

Sarah hisses in sympathy. "Sucks."

"It does."

" _I_ , on the other hand, just got a dozen roses sent to me at work." Yes, David _definitely_ heard the grin in her voice that time.

"Oh? Why are you calling _me_ , instead of your girl, then?" He propped himself up on his elbow, sighing at the spike of pain it caused in his head.

"Because I'm going to thank her later. Properly."

"Oh, ew," David said, making a face.

"It is _not_ !" she cried. "Stop _making_ it ew!"

"I just love how you called it 'ew' instead of 'gross,' like I was referring."

"Oh, shut up." They were both giggling and David tossed an arm over his eyes. "Anyway," she continued, "I just realized I hadn't called you in a while and I was beginning to forget your voice, you know?"

David's mouth tugged downwards. "So you tried to call Les, and then he gave you some excuse so he could get off the phone?"

"Exactly," she confirmed. "And I know you appreciate me. And it actually _has_ been a while since I've called, so I thought I would give you a ring and see how you've been and what's been going on all the way over there in New Mexico."

"Well, let me think. It was sunny again today. I saw two freshmen fight over an avocado in the quad this morning, and... nope. That's it. Nothing else."

Sarah made a very unbecoming snoring sound into the receiver. "That isn't what I'm talking about and you very well _know it_ ." David laughed, almost seeing her pointing an accusing finger at him. "What going on _with you?_ How's classes? Is your roommate still good? Is he annoying? Oh God, does he kick you out a lot because of dates and stuff?"

David's headache throbbed and he was _oh_ , so very close to asking her to Please, Shut Up Or Talk At A Quieter Volume.

He thought about it for a second. "Classes are fine, going well. Henry is fine, too. He doesn't kick me out _too_ often... he likes to spend the night at his date's room, I think. And I think he spends some nights with a friend's apartment off campus. He's annoying sometimes, but that's really only because he has a bad habit of leaving his blankets on the floor and opened bottles in the window sill." He paused, trying to think of anything else to note. "So... overall... I'm _fine_ , I guess.”

Sarah sighed. "David, you are _incredibly_ boring. Where did all that fighting, partying spirit go when you graduated high school, huh?"

David snorted. "High School David realized that academics were something he needed to focus on, and that he was ready to give up Sunday morning regrets."

Sarah grunted. "You got old and boring, then?"

"Exactly."

"Wow. How am I supposed to live through you when you aren't even _living_?" she moaned dramatically. "You're lame, David."

"I know."

"You oughta do something about it."

"I shall pass on that, actually."

She huffed and David was sure that she blew her fringe from her eyes.

"Well," she started again after a moment, "is there a girl in the picture? A boy? You mentioned one the other day."

David's heart skipped a beat and he had to take a moment to relearn how to breathe. "I... just said that I embarrassed myself in front of him, actually," he corrected her, tripping over the first couple of words before picking up the slack and smoothing the words out.

"Huh. So like, what happened with that, anyway? Did you get his number?" She sounded so hopeful David wanted to wither. He paused for too long, it seemed, because Sarah took his hesitation as a big ol' _Y E S_ . "Oh my God, you _did_! What happened? Did you like, go on a date? Are you going to? Or was it, like, a one-and-done deal where you had a really great night and then cut him loose?"

"Christ, Sarah, no! No, I did not!" David sat up, his head felt tight as he did, but he pointedly ignored the fact.

"Didn't get his number, or didn't have steamy unattached sex?" she asked to clarify.

" _God_! Neither! I did neither!"

"Well, why not? He could have been your _next big thing_ , or whatever. A college fling you get _really_ into and then dream about him for years afterward.”

"Sarah, that sounds awful."

"But it would have been _fun_!" she argued.

"Whatever." David rolled his eyes. "But, no. I did _not_ get his number."

"Ah, see, but your tone suggests that you may have gotten something else," she shot back. David pictured a classy lifted eyebrow and a questioning quirk of her lips.

Damn her and her future-lawyer charm!

He worried at his lip. "I gave him my tumblr." In reality, it was not a statement. David's tone made it very much so a question.

Sarah paused for a moment. And then a moment more.

"Your _tumblr_ ?" she questioned incredulously. "Why the fuck would you give him _that_?"

"Because he asked for it?"

"Oh my God." Sarah laughed. "Why would he ask for _that_ of all things?"

"I dunno." He shook his head and rubbed at his forehead. "Well, I mean, I _do_ know, but... You know."

"No, I don't know, please enlighten me," she said. "It sounds like it's going to be good.

David grimaced. "So. You know MajorNews, right? From tumblr."

"Yeah, Cultist Number One, I got it. What does he have to do with this?”

"Well, it turns out, he's _really_ cute."

"David, you are speaking in riddles, and I get too little hours of sleep a night on average to begin deciphering that."

David took a breath, and then another for good measure.

And then another for good luck.

"So here's the thing."

And he outlined their entire meeting, how neither one of them believed the other was serious, and how Jack and David have been talking since. Sarah listened in rapt silence.

"Have you considered that he's a serial killer?" she asked at one point.

"Many times, thanks," David shot back. "I dunno. I'm still undecided about him."

Sarah hummed. "Be careful with him, okay?"

"I will," David assured her, "promise."

"Don't meet him in dark alleyways until you know that his character is fucking golden, you get me?" Her tone was hard, now.

David huffed. "I'll not be meeting _anyone_ in a dark alleyway. But, I understand what you mean. And, _promise_."

"Good." She paused. "Man, what the fuck kind of romance novel do you even live in!?" she demanded. "That's _weird_ , Davey."

"I know, I know. Totally freaking weird."

"Hmm. Oh golly. I have to go. I've got to go meet Kath."

David snorted. "Yes, go _thank her_ for the roses."

Sarah hummed and David could just see those waggling eyebrows again. "Oh, trust me, David, I _am_."

David made an offended, totally grossed-out type of sound before Sarah tossed out her farewells and hung up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come yell at me on tumblr!](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com)


	3. Jack Is A Cookie Crushing Monster, Pass It On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which David is a sucker for soulmate aus, Jack is a sucker for David, and Elmer throws Oreos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h a h so i've got at least 43K written for this already, but g o d am i stuck rn :))
> 
> v a l i d a t e m e
> 
> Yeah, hah. This was a pain to edit. It's occurred to me that im not the best editor l m a o
> 
> anyway. hope you enjoy this. dont forget to leave me a comment!

9:43 PM

> **whatspunispun** ****  
>  So my sister is convinced that you’re a serial killed trying to seduce me.   
>  Or are trying to catfish me
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  wtf   
>  how did she(?) figure out my plot?
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** She(/thumbs up/) is scary like that, Jack. Just plain. Scary.
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  huh   
>  well i guess i just gotta prove that i’m not catfishing you
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** I like how you try to refute the catfish claim, but not the serial killer one
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  obviously I am   
>  I am many things, liar is not one
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  I am joking btw   
>  Not a serial killer
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Very good to know
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  ok. Good.   
>  was just making sure u knew
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** So how were you going to prove you aren’t a catfish, though we both Obviously know that you’re catfishing me
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** i was Going To suggest facetime honestly
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** While that sounds fun, I don’t have an iPhone
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  aw davey wtaf   
>  ok then   
>  Other options include skype, discord and Maybe rabbit even though rabbit Hates me
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Oh! Discord would be best.
> 
> **majornews** ****  
> !!!   
>  yay   
>  !!!

Minutes later, usernames swapped and an accepted friend request later, and Jack was calling him over Discord.

Nervously (David blamed Sarah for instilling that certain anxiety in him), he pressed his thumb to his webcam. He was just going to keep his cover for a minute, just to make sure that Jack wasn’t some gigantic creep, or something. He said a little prayer and accepted the call.

They connected, and a screen popped up in his desktop application. Jack was on a bed, sitting against a wall. His hair was messed every which way and he was grinning in what David thought was anticipation.

_ God _ , he was cute.

Er…

He was the boy from the coffee shop, alright! Definitely not some weird, older creeper, or a young teenager looking for a laugh.

David let out a relieved breath and felt his shoulders slump.

Jack suddenly frowned, realizing that he couldn’t see David. “Is your camera on?” he asked, voice grainy through the Discord filter.

That’s where David remembered that his thumb was still pressed over the lens covering.

“Sorry,” he murmured, jerking his hand away. David looked at his webcam as the camera adjusted to the light until he finally came into focus. He looked at himself until he finally came into focus. He looked at himself deadpan on the screen and was horrified. He covered the camera back over.

“I look  _ awful _ ,” he said, mostly to himself.

Jack made an offended noise, pouting in the screen.

“What?  _ Nooo _ , come back.”

“My mother would die if she knew I was calling boys like this.”

“Well, ain’t it a good thing that your mother ain’t here?” Jack replied cheekily.

David snorted. He raked a hand through his hair in a sorry attempt to flatten his curls against his head before finally took his hand back from the webcam. “Sounds like something you’d say before you fool around when your parents aren’t home.”

Jack choked on his spit and coughed. It turned into a laugh and he dragged a hand down over his face. “Oh my  _ God _ ,” he gasped. “You’re a riot.” The word sounded like something foreign on Jack’s tongue - like it was a new phrase he was trying to implement into his everyday vocabulary.

David smiled.

Jack looked back at Davey with a spark in his eyes. “So? Convinced yet?”

He frowned and asked “Of what?”

“That I’m a totally normal, struggling college student and definitely not a 40 year old man.” Jack shrugged. “Yanno.”

David hummed. “Oh. I mean, yeah, I guess it’ll do,” he said.

There was a rapid-fire sound coming from Jack’s computer and David snorted. “Active chat over there?”

Jack gave a sheepish smile. “Yeah. Today’s crisis is…” he clicked through his tabs, apparently checking the chat. “It’s uh. Okay, my friend Romeo is going through a pre-date freakout where he took a shower too late and his hair is still wet.”

David’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why doesn’t he blow dry it?” he asked.

“As if it were that simple.” Jack rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t wanna ‘damage his hair.’” He crooked his fingers, giving air quotes. “But he’s still freaking out like there’s nothing he can do about it all.”

“That’s dumb,” David said. “Just lower the temperature and get most of the moisture out so he can style it or whatever.”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell him,” he said, shaking his head. “Does he listen? Of course not.”

“Pretty much. He’s dead-set in having his diva moment.”

David laughed. “Sounds like my sister’s girlfriend. She’s the most practical and logical person I know, but about once a month she has her freak-out-over-nothing and Sarah and I are hard-pressed to calm her out of it.”

Jack snorted. “I think there’s one in every friend group.”

“There definitely is.”

Another moment or so passed, Jack gave constant updates on The Romeo Situation and David hummed little comments about it all. And then lock on the door clicked open. David looked at the door, startled.

“What is it?” Jack asked, the change in his posture catching his eye on the screen.

“Nothing,” David assured him, “Roommate’s just home.”

“Tell them I said hello,” Jack said, tone very serious and businesslike, straightening up.

David snorted. “Sure thing,” he said just before the door swung open and Henry walked in the room, hand in hand with a girl David didn’t recognize. They both looked bubbly, like they had just gotten home from a night of drinking with friends, steeping in a comfortable air.

When Henry noticed David, he jumped, eyes wide.

“David. You’re home,” he said dumbstruck.

David shifted on the floor by his bed, looking up at the pair. “Yes.” He looked to Jack for a second, he was listening carefully to what was coming from his earbuds. He could probably hear Henry.

“I texted you,” he said.

It clicked. David shifted and pulled his phone from his back pocket. He looked over a few texts, a grimace finding its way to his face. He looked at Jack, whose expression was understanding, and then Henry, who had wide, _blatantly_ _hinting_ eyes.

"I didn't get them until just now," he said helplessly, shrinking awkwardly under Henry’s gaze.

"It's fine," the girl said. "Henry, I'll just go home, huh?" She moved in a way that mirrored her speech, loose. Fluid.

Henry frowned, but agreed with a nod.

David looked back down to his screen as Henry leaned in to kiss her.

"Wanna meet up?" Jack offered. “Give them the room?”

David took one more look at the couple in front of him and that was all he needed to prompt him to say yes. He nodded quickly.

"Actually, Henry," David said hurriedly, catching the young man’s attention, "I was just fixing to go over to Jack's, so you can…  _ have the room _ ." The last part came out very awkwardly, as he gestured with his hand over the dorm room.

He did not miss how the couple perked up.

"Jack?" Henry asked, confusion in his eyes.

"A friend," he answered vaguely. Henry made a little  _ o _ with his mouth, but he didn’t push it.

"You'd do that for us?" the girl asked she smiled and wrapped her arms around Henry's shoulder. He didn't realize how much taller than him she was until then.

"Sure," David said, already standing up with his laptop in his arms. He shut the computer and shoved it, and a few other things in his backpack before he hurried out the door.

David pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted as he walked out of the building.

> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Thanks for the out
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** what are friends for???
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** I guess you've got a point
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** so are you coming over?
> 
> **whatspunispun** ****  
>  I actually don't have anywhere else to go, so if the offer still stands?   
>  If not, I can just go get a coffee and ~ study ~ for a few hours
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  Nonsense   
>  get your ass over here
> 
> **whatspunispun** ****  
>  Right   
>  Where is that, exactly?   
>  I don’t have your room number
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** you know the dorm on the east side of campus?
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Yeah; I actually know a few people over there
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  Cool   
>  i'm in room 320   
>  thrid floor, obviously
> 
> **whatspunispun** ****  
>  Got it   
>  Do you want me to bring anything
> 
> **majornews** ****  
>  obviously not   
>  Im host, you can't bring anything   
>  though - are you hungry?
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Not for anything more than like a handful of goldfish
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** hmm. We'll figure something out, don't worry about it
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** I'll be over in just a few, am currently in the quad
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** oh shit. I'll be down to let you in give me a min

Jack was standing there when David walked up, looking out the door for him. He opened the door for him and they went past the entrance area, to the stairs. David followed after him closely.

"We have to go up a floor to get to the commons," Jack told him, tossing a grin over his shoulder. "We used to have the commons above ground level, but when they remodeled the building, they stuck it up a floor and then made the ground-level common area a kitchen for the students."

"Is it nice?" David asked. They had something similar in his dorm hall, but rather than one collective area, there was a smaller one on each floor. Their kitchen area was indeed on the ground floor.

"It's alright," Jack said with a shrug. He opened the door to the stairs and let Davey go in first. "Gets loud before exams, when everyone is getting their party out before they have to settle in and focus."

"Sounds tough."

"When you've got deadlines to meet, hell yeah. I don't like to work in my dorm room all that much, so I thrive off of the common areas and the coffee shop vibe. It gets tough when everyone's trying to fuck you and your focus up."

"I can see why," David mused. "I guess you work in the cafe a lot? The one where Elmer works?"

"Yeah," Jack said, grinning. "I usually settle in there if I know that I've got a long stretch ahead of me, I've got drinks on demand, and all the little brownies and cookies I can stomach while I'm working."

David hummed, looking back at Jack two steps below him. "Seems like a perfect plan."

"Doesn't it?"

Another minute or so and they were standing in the middle of the public commons. There were very few people in the room: a couple of boys were one of the four couches in the area, looking moodily over a few textbooks, and there was one person sitting at the coffee table with their legs folded underneath them, playing some sort of game on their computer.

Jack led David over to the couch furthest away from everyone else and David plopped down. He shed his backpack and tucked it under his feet. Jack was about to sit down before he clicked his fingers. "I'm gonna grab some shit from my room, I'll be back super quick."

"Alright," David said, and then Jack was gone.

David pulled up his laptop and started clicking around a few tabs while he waited. He wrote a few words on his doc before Jack came back, backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Alright, here we go," he said, sitting on the opposite side of the couch, facing David's direction. David shifted so that he was in the same position, but his legs were folded under him, instead of stretched out like Jack's were.

"How did Romeo's thing go?" David asked as Jack got situated, his laptop on his lap again. Jack looked up to him, hazel eyes widened.

"Uhm," he paused, frowning. "I actually don't know. I was caught up with your roommate and then I logged off," he admitted. "I'm going to check." He put his password into his computer and pulled it up again. "Let's see. There's lot of mentions of suffering and shit like that." He rolled his eyes. "He ended up blow drying it."

David grinned. "Told him."

"I know." Jack smiled at him before he went back to the chat. "Let's see, what else? Romeo went out on his date, haven't heard from him since. Albo lost his pen."

"Just get another one," David said, shrugging.

Jack shook his head, saying, "It's an input pen for a drawing tablet."

" _ Oohh _ … Hope he finds it."

"Oh, he did. It was stuck behind his ear." Jack rolled his eyes. "Typical, honestly."

David laughed. He typed a few words out on his doc, a few lines of dialogue, listening as Jack went on.

"Albo's wrist started to cramp up half an hour ago, and it looks like ten minutes ago he realized that it is after 2 o'clock there and he was rushed off to bed by Spot, who also lives in New York, so none of really know why  _ he's _ allowed to stay up, but not Albo."

"Maybe he has classes tomorrow or something," David offered, assuming that Albo was college age.

"It's Saturday, Davey." He looked up with a cocked eyebrow.

"Oh. I forgot," he said bashfully.

Jack smiled and knocked his foot against Davey's knee playfully. "Besides," he went on, "Albo's classes are all online. Spot's going to NYU, so he really ought to be getting more sleep than Albo."

"Wow," David mused. They went back to their own work, Davey to his WIP and Jack to his chat.

That's how it went for another ten minutes, with Jack and Davey privately working on their separate projects while occasionally looking to the other for input or a silly little comment about something they thought of or saw while goofing off on their social media sites.

And then Jack looked up at Davey. Davey felt his gaze on him, but didn't look up until he had typed out his thought. He looked up and met Jack's eyes.

"What?" he asked, feeling warmth spread up to the nape of his neck.

"Nothin'," he said, "just curious about what you're working on."

"Oh." He looked back down to his doc, as if there was a carefully crafted summary lined out that he could just read out to Jack, instead of having to find the words to try and explain this goddamn  _ plot _ . "It's, uh. A soulmate AU."

Jack perked up, "Oh?"

David nodded. "It's more like a character and culture study, actually. It's like...  exploring what our world would be like, if we has soulmates in this day and age, and how soulmates would have shaped our world view, you know?"

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "I imagine slut-shaming would be at an all-time high," he said.

David nodded, "Exactly. Stuff like that would be really common. Like, think of how your family would react if you brought home a girl that wasn't your soulmate; they would probably be really upset, since they all knew the fact that that relationship wouldn't last since she's not your soulmate."

"And what if you were in a relationship when you meet your soulmate?" Jack asked, leaning forward in interest.

David shrugged. "I assume you'd be told to dump your partner for your soulmate. Flat out. You'd have to be available to your soulmate, just for the fact that they're  _ your soulmate. _ "

"Damn."

"Exactly."

"Gotta wonder though, if homophobia would be a lot less prevalent if there were soulmates," Jack said, gesturing idly with his hand.

"I know. You'd  _ think _ it might be lower, especially with religious folks. At least, there would be a lot more arguments of 'How could God give us soulmates if we weren't supposed to have them?'"

"You've put a lot of thought into this," Jack said. He propped his elbow on the back of the couch and leaned his chin on his palm.

David smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. It's really interesting."

Jack nodded. "Especially to hear you talk about it."

David spluttered. "Thanks," he murmured, ducking his head.

"You are very welcome," Jack said, a teasing lilt to his mouth. "I wanna read it sometime, you get me?"

"Alright." He smiled. "You can read it when it's finished.

"Nice. Can't wait."

David went back to his doc, and Jack dropped his gaze again.

Six more paragraphs were written before Elmer showed up. He seemed to pop up out of nowhere, bearing Oreos and scaring the living shit out of Jack.

David saw Elmer coming from across the room; they made eye contact and Elmer pressed a finger to his lips. David gave a little nod of his head and remained silent. Elmer, with his crinkling package of Oreos, was still able to sneak up behind Jack and clasp him on the shoulder. Jack cursed loudly, jostling everything in his lap as he whipped around to look over his shoulder.

"Elmer!" he exclaimed. "What the fuck?!"

Elmer cackled madly, and David was right there with him. He plopped down in the middle of the two, right atop Jack's legs.

"That's what you get for being the  _ most _ unobservant person on the planet."

Jack huffed and sunk down in his seat. "Oh, shut up," he snapped. He kicked his legs just to jostle Elmer, which earned him nothing more than an Oreo thrown at him.

“This is biphobia at its finest,” Jack hummed.

David laughed at the joke, but pocketed the bit of queer information presented there for a later date.

“Oh hush,” Elmer tossed another Oreo. Jack sulkily ate the both of them. Elmer offered the package to David, and the man took a couple. “So, David,” Elmer started, eyes sharp. “I heard you voted ‘yes’ on the whole ‘Jack wanted to adopt a puppy’ incident.”

David inhaled sharply, startled. Little bits of cookie flew down his throat and he choked. He coughed through it as Elmer patted worriedly at his back.

“I voted no!” he said once he was able.

Elmer looked back at Jack, his eyes narrowed.

“Well, who’s gonna say he said otherwise?” Jack crossed his arms. David threw his Oreo to Jack. “I can’t believe you put words in my mouth,” he huffed.

“Davey,” Jack said softly, his mouth in a pout. “ _ Davey _ ,” he repeated once he was ignored. “I was  _ so _ ready for a dog.”

“You’re in the dog  _ house _ ,” Elmer advised, snickering. He tipped as Jack kicked his legs again. He was dislodged and he fell to the floor in a crumpled mess. “You crushed my cookies!” Sure enough, he’d landed on his Oreos, crumpling the cookies in his wake.

“You’re a monster,” David said as he slid off the couch. Jack groaned as David and Elmer sat side-by-side on the floor, eating the broken cookies.

That night David got to know Elmer quite a bit. He learned the little things, like how he loved his positive psychology class, but abhorred his history classes. He was originally from Wisconsin, and was the eldest of eight children. (Don’t ask David about how he managed that, because he hadn’t a  _ damn _ clue.) He learned that he came to the fandom through Jack. He ran a blog called “gqchchq.” It was an acronym for  _ Genderqueer Headcanons Head Quarters _ , and Davey thought that that was the best, cutest thing he’s ever heard in his life.

He and Jack also seemed very close. They laughed with each other like they’d been together their whole lives. Casual touches were a constant, and David wasn’t sure if that’s just how the boys were regularly, with other people they knew, or if it was a certain type of reserved affection between the two of them.

Or, David thought, maybe they were together. Who knew? Not David.

By the time the RA came around (“I know it’s Saturday, guys, but seriously. I want this lobby cleared out, you get me?”), David was ready for the nap of the century. Henry had sent him a text an hour earlier ( **From Henry:** coast is c l e a r), so he knew he was safe.

He yawned and stretched out his arms before pulling on his backpack on. He smiled sleepily at the boys. “I’ll see you guys later, alright?” Elmer hugged him before he went, and Jack offered to walk David home. David assured him that he’d be fine.

And he was. Twenty minutes and a short jog later, David face planted onto his bed.

He was half asleep when a short ping drew his attention. He sleepily pulled his phone from his pocket, only to see that Jack had messaged him

> **majornews** ****  
>  so like elmer suggested that i invite you to our discord   
>  since yk you HAVE discord n were friends and wtvr
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** that sounds super cool!

Davey really wasn’t feeling the exclamation mark he sent, but his sleep-addled brain told him that it was a good thing to seem enthusiastic.

Which, he was. He just didn’t really know how to translate that when he was half asleep.

> **majornews** **  
> ** so like you wanna join :)
> 
> **whatspunispun** **  
> ** Sure, it sounds fun, *smile

David’s eyes were drifting shut, his head was sinking farther and farther down into his pillow.

> **majornews** **  
> ** Noice

David looked at the link Jack had sent through bleary eyes.

> **whatspunispun** ****  
>  Right   
>  Imma go do that tomorrow   
>  After i sleep
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** Totally understandable
> 
> **whatspunispun** ****  
>  Mhm   
>  G’night, jack
> 
> **majornews** **  
> ** Night Davey! Sweet dreams!

That was kind of sweet, David thought as he finally let his phone drop. He was asleep within minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> __  
> [here's my tumblr, come scream in my inbox](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com)  
> 


	4. *a vegetable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi ho everyone. This is a day and a half late but /shrugs/ what e v e r .
> 
> i hope you like it. this is one of the hardest chapters ive written so far :)))))
> 
> also idk when the next chapter will be out - prolly not next thursday tho :\\\
> 
> but anyway - dont forget to leave me a comment when youre done!!

It was after David woke up that he realized that he knew nothing about the discord that Jack shared with him. Nothing other the facts that a) Jack and Elmer were in it, and b) David had somehow earned an invitation.

Don’t ask him how, he didn’t _know_.

Nevertheless, David took a chance, and pasted the link into a new tab.

He was taken, quite predictably,  to the _#Intros_ channel.

> **Bot752** today at 08:12   
>  Greetings! **@Goliath** , please fill this shit out before you get welcomed into Fite Club   
>  Name:   
>  Age:   
>  Pronouns:   
>  sTaTeMeNt Of PuRpOsE:   
>  Fave song at the moment:   
>  Favorite character:   
>  Anything else to add?? Social handles?? YOUR FIRSTBORN C H I L D???:

David looked at the questions with mild interest. They were fairly standard. David filled them out quickly with little care; he’d been through this many times before.

> **Goliath** today at 08:15   
>  Name: David J.   
>  Age: 20 in Sept.   
>  Pronouns: He/Him   
>  sTaTeMeNt Of PuRpOsE: I. I don’t know?   
>  Fave song at the moment: Sondheim’s Losing My Mind   
>  Favorite character: Taryn. By far.   
>  Anything else to add?? Social handles?? YOUR FIRSTBORN C H I L D???: @whatspunispun on tumblr, Uhm I don’t have any children, nor do I have names picked out. I have two siblings, one of which is also in this fandom. Also, I love soulmate AUs
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:15   
>  _Gasp_ . wait you’re _jack’s_ david???
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:15   
>  Well I like to think of myself as my own individual, but yes. I know Jack.
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:16   
>  This is _Thrilling_   
>  My name is Albie/Albo/Albert/Alberto; he/they. I own the server   
>  oh shit, let me assign your roles.

David waited as he was assigned the “he/him,” “Still Not Bobby,” “Taryn,” and “writer,” roles. He didn’t even want to _question_ the second one.

> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:17   
>  Gud luk buttercup
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:18   
>  Will I NEED it?
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at  08:18   
>  oh lol definitely
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:19   
>  Oh my
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:19   
>  Mhmmm

David slid into the #General chat like a ninja - he said ninja, purely for the fact that he was on invisible mode. But that’s neither here, nor there.

There was a decent buzz of activity in the channel. He had to read back a bit to find the topic of conversation, though. Turned out that Jack was very much offline, and David was… _expected_.

> **RealMan™** today at 08:20   
>  wait wait wait wait wait wait wait   
>  u mean hes HERE?
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:20   
>  it’s literally in intros romeo
> 
> **RealMan™** today at 08:20   
>  i got that shit muted u honestly cant expect me to follow that kinda thing
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:21   
>  ok that’s fair
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more** today at 08:21   
>  albo texted me where is he
> 
> **SPECtacular** today at 08:21   
>  we dont know he hasn’t migrated outta intros yet
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:21   
>  y’all are scaring him, trust me   
>  he’s terrified
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:21   
>  Davey? Scarec? More likely than u think
> 
> **SPECtacular** today at 08:22   
>  scarec
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:22   
>  kindly shut your fuck
> 
> **SPECtacular** today at 08:22   
>  :wink:
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:22   
>  :middle_finger:
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:23   
>  Uhm   
>  Not scared   
>  Trying to find a way to introduce myself
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more** today at 08:23   
>  aint that what intros are for
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:23   
>  Hush! And! Let! Him! Speak!
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:24   
>  Yeah   
>  So   
>  I’m David, I know Jack and Elmer and uh,,,   
>  that’s it
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:25   
>  nice!   
>  im Race, pronouns he/him for the most part.
> 
> **SPECtacular** today at 08:26   
>  Stephen! Everyone calls me specs tho pronouns are :shrug: honestly just whatever im cool
> 
> **RealMan™** today at 08:26   
>  i am :sparkle: romeo :sparkle: they/them   
>  n im the cutest of in this server just fyi
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:27   
>  I cant say anything abt it bc i literally think everyone in this server is a fucking piece of art   
>  ugh you beautiful human beings   
>  like   
>  u know who is cute
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:28   
>  spot?
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:28   
>  u read my fucking mind my friend   
>  spotted colon is one cute fucker
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more** today at 08:29   
>  oh shuddup!   
>  my name is spot, my pronouns are he/him or she/her on the special occasion bc im bigender
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:29   
>  Ok. I am going to try and remember all of that, but bear w me alright?
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:29   
>  I gotchu Davey   
>  y’all put your names in your nicks until Davey gets used to it all, if you would
> 
> **discount Sonci** today at 08:30   
>  meaning youll jail us if we dont, right
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1** today at 08:30   
>  obvi   
>  and u cant bribe elmer out of jail bc Honestly he’s a spot of sunshine and he’d side with our newbie
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 08:30   
>  just like jack would?
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 08:31   
>  just like jack would.
> 
> **Goliath** today at 08:31   
>  Oh, ill add my name, too   
>  And what do you mean, Jack would?
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 08:31   
>  oh my god   
>  he doesn’t Know
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 08:32   
>  unbelievable
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:32   
>  I?? Don’t get it??
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 08:33   
>  _Hi i just got back and i have a question_   
>  just like   
>  randomly   
>  davey what is the most cliched, novel worthy moment in your life?

That gave David pause. He shifted, thinking back.

> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:34   
>  I don’t know…   
>  Oh!   
>  Jack and I met in a coffee shop   
>  Voila
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 08:35   
>  Oh believe me we heard All about the coffee shop   
>  we had to fight him, he was gonna write about it
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:35   
>  Oh my god   
>  I saw that post on tumblr
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 08:36   
>  yeah   
>  the dummy let the masses encourage him and now we Rlly wants to   
>  if it goes on too much longer, ya gonna have a fic written about you
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:37   
>  _Snort_ Oh please. It wasn’t That fic-worthy
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 08:37   
>  Race aint jokin   
>  i once had my toast stolen by a bird right out of my hands and then jack wrote a piece on it just to spite me
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:37   
>  Oh god.
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 08:37   
>  I Remember That   
>  it was from the POV of the bird and how you were an evil disney villain
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 08:38   
>  It was golden.
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 08:39   
>  and this was the day that i made Jackary Wilson Kelly my sworn nemesis.
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:39   
>  Is that   
>  his name?   
>  _what?_
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 08:40   
>  ah. See it’s a bit of a joke cause no one here knows jack’s second name
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 08:40   
>  and charlie wont tell us :frowning:
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 08:40   
>  it’s cause jackary bribed him not to :angry:
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:41   
>  huh   
>  Elmer won’t tell you?
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 08:41   
>  nope   
>  Jack says that he didnt bribe him   
>  i think elmer just thinks it’s funny
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 08:42   
>  stupid qpps
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:42   
>  Wait.   
>  They aren’t… together?
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today ay 08:42   
>  they aren’t, no
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 08:42   
>  they’re queer platonic
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:43   
>  Oh my god.
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 08:43   
>  honestly it isnt hard to believe   
>  they’re Close as hell
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 08:44   
>  tell me.   
>  do they act as close in person as they do here?
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 08:44   
>  I mean i’ve only seen Elmer a couple of times in person, but they are Very very close, yes.

_Close enough that David was genuinely surprised to learn that they weren’t an item._ What a revelation!

> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at  08:45   
>  hi everyone i want to talk about davey again
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 09:45   
>  Ohmigod same
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 09:45   
>  ty   
>  davey what do you do?
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:46   
>  Yeah, yeah of course. Rn I’m working as an assistant director in a new production.
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 09:46   
>  nice!!! what’s the production
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:47   
>  it’s a piece one of our senior graduates wrote, actually. They’ve been working on it since before I’ve met them, and they finally convinced the right people to let us put it on and try it out.
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 09:47   
>  Interesting. Is it a good show?
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:47   
>  Oh yeah! I love it. We’ve been in talks to get it going since summer, so it’s great to finally be able to work on it. We start casting really soon, actually.
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 09:48   
>  that’s so neat   
>  i always wanted to get into acing   
>  acting
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:48   
>  Well why didnt you?
> 
> **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 09:48   
>  idk just never had the occasion.   
>  maybe ill try a workshop someday. that’d be fun.
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:48   
>  It would be! Theater has always been really really great for me.
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 09:48   
>  HI EVERYONE GOOD MORNING GUESS WHAT   
>  ILL SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE IT’S COOL   
>  SO LIKE YALL KNOW MY APPARENT ADDICTION TO PAINT WATER RIGHT   
>  I GUESS I FUCKIGN RELAPSED BECAUSE IVE DRANK HALF A CUP WITHOUT EVEN N O T I C I N G :upside_down: SOMEONE PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 09:49   
>  Good entrance, Jack
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 09:49   
>  _Jackie makes an ennntrranncceeeeee_
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 09:50   
>  ALSO DAVEY IS HERE AND HE’S EXPOSED™ YOU ON ALL LEVELS
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 09:50   
>  1) was that a fuckign bmc ref how dare you i am obviously richie, the troubled bi youth   
>  2) ive always god good entrances spot thank you   
>  3) What When Where Why Did No One Alert Me To This Development   
>  HOW HAS HE EXPOSED ME WHAT DO YOU M E A N ???????
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 09:51   
>  Tbh there hasnt been muh exposition sadly   
>  Which is kind of boring
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:51   
>  _Well, I apologize I dont have a lot of dirt,_ **_Spot_ **
> 
> **majorly problemaic™** today at 09:52   
>  Oh thank god i thought i was going to have to burn out my dorm room and move to Ontario
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 09:52   
>  why ontario specifically
> 
> **Majorly problematic™** today at 09:52   
>  No reason why do you ask
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 09:53   
>  why are you so fuckign shady jakc
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 09:53   
>  :shrug:   
>  anyway iwhat kind of alternate universe have i jumped into where yall havent scared davey off and away by now
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 09:54   
>  we’re tryin our best jack you gotta give us time   
>  wait until the fall memes come around. hell leave quicker than richard the ex
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 09:54   
>  _real quick_
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 09:54   
>  eXaCtLy   
>  also jackson change your fucking nickname or imma jail you
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 09:55   
>  (no fuck u albie im keepin it)   
>  alright, whatEVER guys   
>  just TRY and run davey off   
>  He’s got spunk he’ll stay for sure
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 09:55   
>  Please never say that again
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:56   
>  Yeah im going to go throw myself off a cliff good bye folks.
> 
> **Majorly problematic™** today at 09:56   
>  NO WAIT!!! COME BACK FORGIVE ME
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 09:57   
>  I honestly dont know if I can, Jackie   
>  I am **Disgusted and i do Not want a repeat.**
> 
> **Mama Mod #2 (Elmer he/him)** today at 09:57   
>  well that friendship didn’t last long :frowning:
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 09:58   
>  ELMER HI HOW WERE YOUR QUIZ RESULTS
> 
> **Mama Mod #2 (Elmer he/him)** today at 09:58   
>  Good!!!!! I knew almost everything so im feeling fresh and fine!
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 09:59   
>  :clap: **_i_ ** :clap: **_am_ ** :clap: **_so_ ** :clap: **_proud_ ** :clap: **_of_ ** :clap: **_him_ ** :clap:
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 09:59   
>  good job elmer!!! :grin: :heart:
> 
> **Mama Mod #2 (Elmer he/him)** today at 10:00   
>  thank you!!!!!!! :grin:
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 10:00   
>  So like back to the exposition   
>  It’s been almost two weeks im surprised that it took jack so long to invite davey here
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:01   
>  wdym
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 10:01   
>  I mean that youve spent two weeks tellin us about this boy who you met and then started talkin to and then waited for elmer to tell you to invite him to the chat to invite him
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:01   
>  can you b L A M E M E   
>  _y’all are freaks_
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 10:02   
>  Jack this is your five minute reminder for your nick
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:02   
>  _bleh_ ! he knows me, anyhow   
>  and anyways davey is great
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 10:03   
>  so youve told us :grin:   
>  a lot
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:03   
>  sshhhhhhhhhh im not done   
>  he’s great and y’all are A Lot and i dont wanna overwhelm him   
>  cause i mean yall know he’s p great.   
>  and i kinda thought that itd be cool be keep him around for a while ya feel
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 10:04   
>  wowie jack take him out to dinner before the wedding proposal
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 10:04   
>  _snort_   
>  Does sound quite like that, doesn’t it?
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 10:05   
>  ah men ah men   
>  when’s the wedding kids? i wanna plan it
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 10:05   
>  tbh knowing jack he’s just gonna drag them down to the jop and then get hitched there
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:06   
>  im honestly so offended   
>  i would at LEAST fund a trip to Vegas to get it done by The King himself
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 10:06   
>  tbh that’s really predictable.
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 10:07   
>  Well Jack   
>  Time’s Up.
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 10:07   
> ???
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 10:07   
>  he Didnt
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 10:08   
>  tbh it’s routine now
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 10:08   
>  i cant believe that alberto killed jackary

David’s eyes flicked along the channel side-bar. There were things like _#voicechattextchat_ and _#toomuchofagoodthing_ , but one of the only channels white with unread messages was one names _#timeoutcorner_.

_Bingo._

David clicked on the jail channel, looking for Jack’s response.

> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:07   
>  i canNOT BELIEVE THIS   
>  ALBO U CANT DO THIS   
>  What do u mean that its routine   
>  I barely ever get jailed   
>  Im a fucking flower child xcuse u   
>  Yk what albie come fucking fight me   
>  oh my god i was kidding pls dont boot me ily

It was… difficult to keep up with the chat when it was split between channels like that. Especially when the others were running rampant in #Gen while Jack chatted away, replying in the jail chat.

But, like all good (terribly distracting, oddly enrapturing) chats, David soon realized that he had to leave for a time.

> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 10:32   
>  While this has been fun, folks, i gotta rn   
>  _Dramatical practices and such_
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 10:32   
>  good luck davey!!   
>  hav a good day
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 10:32   
>  see you   
>  Do us proud, son.
> 
> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 10:32   
>  :grin:
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 10:33   
>  yes, davey!   
>  _ESCAPE WHILST YOU CAN_
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 10:33   
>  This is your chat, albo.
> 
> **Big Papa Mod #1 (albie he they)** today at 10:33   
>  stop making sense spotty.

Davey took one last look to the jail before he logged off.

> **majorly problematic™** today at 10:32   
>  BYE DAVEY HAVE A GOOD DAY MAKE GOOD CHOICES EAT A VEGATABLE AND DONT DRINK ANY PAINT WATER   
> **_BLOWS KISSES_ ** YOU GOT THIS

Davey snorted a laugh, smiling to himself in his dorm room.

> **Goliath (David he/him/his)** today at 10:34   
> **@majorly problematic™** :heart:   
>  *a vegetable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [come visit me over on the tumbles!](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com)


	5. A Closet Theater Nerd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? On time? Doubtful.  
> This? Overdue? Maybe.
> 
> I had hoped to have this up yesterday, but I got set back with a migraine. It really all came to a head yesterday and it was suffering.
> 
> Anyhow. Hope you enjoy this! There's a lil bit of Henry here and god i love him so much h a h
> 
> Oh, and before you read on, I gotta say thanks to Chloe for giving Henry a last name, and to Byrd for actually causing me to use the last name. i blame y'all
> 
> AND THANKS TO BUGGY, who let me borrow the URL for race's blog. it's fuckign perfect and im love it
> 
> ok kids, now have fun, be safe, and get home on time.

The people of the chat, named _A Formidable Band of Gays_ , was an active, crazy bunch.

It was clear to David that the group was tight-knit, with each one of the members having been a member of the group for at least ten or so months. It was hard to try and fit in with the group at first, as he tried to get a feel for their whole dynamic.

It wasn't too hard after a while. The server seemed to have gotten some sort of handle on David's character, and they were ready to help him feel like he fit in. They included him in conversations, and David found that it was really nice.

But while nice, he didn’t exactly have time to focus on that, now.

It was Thursday. Nearly every day of the week (save the weekends), David had drama meeting. He said meeting because he didn't really count it as rehearsal, just yet. It was auditions day and David was busy with their director JoJo getting everything ready. Their crew was already recruited, and they were being walked through the motions as JoJo themself was getting everything sorted according to the picture in their head.

Everyone was being run a bit ragged, but it was a good thing. Their energy was high, buzzing with excitement because the season was _finally_ beginning.

The buzz of a text brought David out of his reverie.

> **From: Henry**  
>  hi cutie  
>  omw to the theater do u want me to grab u anything from the cafeteria
> 
> **To: Henry**  
>  What is this? B r i b e r y ?
> 
> **From: Henry**  
>  why good sir how dare you accuse me of such  
>  but like  
>  u caught me  
>  trade u a roll if u gimme a good role
> 
> **To: Henry**  
>  Nice try  
>  But if you pick me up a bagel, I'll buy you one of those pastries you like from the cafe after we get done
> 
> **From: Henry**  
>  done and done im There  
>  er  
>  ill be there in like half an hour
> 
> **To: Henry**  
>  I'll see you when you get in

David let his phone slip from his fingers and onto the tabletop. He leaned his elbows against the edge of the table and looked to JoJo beside him.

"I'm so ready for this to get started," they said, rubbing the knuckles of their right hand onto their thigh. "The wait is killing me."

David patted their shoulder sympathetically. "I know how you feel." The auditioning process was just as nerve wracking for the directors as it was for the actors.

Soon enough, though, it was time. The actors were all slotted in the auditorium and the auditions began. David took his seat on the piano bench, ready to give the actors accompaniment, while JoJo was in the front row, expectation written clearly on their face.

Some auditions were lackluster. One girl came in and tried to sing a capella, a firm violation of the rules. All singers were required to have accompaniment. She was lucky that her audition song was a classic that David already knew.

Others were simply outstanding. There were quite a few gems this year, and David was excited to be able to work with them.

And then Henry came along.

When his name was called, he stood up and put all of his things on the floor by his seat. He caught David’s eye and shook a plain paper sack at him, eyes wide before he dropped it and hurried down the aisles.

 _He got the bagel_ , David realized with a little laugh.

Henry hopped on stage and looked at JoJo for a second.

“Hi,” he said, all grins. “I’m Henry Lenry-Cook.” I’m going to be singing The Games I Play from the musical Falsettos.” He shuffled the papers in his hands and made his way over to hand them to David. He smiled nervously at David, and David nodded reassuringly to him before trading him his papers for a mic.

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” David told him.

Henry went back centerstage, moving the mic from hand to hand and waited as David began the opening notes.

* * *

    An hour later, Henry popped his gum as David dug into the white paper bag. They were in the back of the auditorium, after everything was said and done, sitting in the very back row as David went for his bagel.

Henry laughed, “Did you even eat breakfast?”

“I don’t have the _time_ for breakfast,” he said before tearing the bagel in half.

Henry patted him on the shoulder and looked out among the cold colored seats. “How do you think it went?” he asked.

David chewed through his mouthful before answering. “We had a lot of good ones come in.” They both knew that wasn’t what Henry was asking, but David shot him a teasing smile. Henry glared. “Your audition was great. You did well. We’re gonna talk about them all, so I can’t say anything, but…” He smiled and clapped Henry’s shoulder. “You did well.”

Henry practically glowed. He grinned and fell back into his chair like a twitterpated school boy.

“When do they send out the casting list?” he asked.

“I think they’re sending it Tuesday,” David replied, “But don’t quote me. Keep a lookout for it.”

“Will do.” Henry pulled his leg up to hook it over the seat in front of him. “This is gonna be a good semester, Dave. You know? You can, like, _feel it_.”

David smiled at him and patted his thigh. “I think you’re right, Henry. It’s going to be great.”

He sighed and slumped against his seat. “Well. I am ready to head home. I’ve got a quiz that I’ve gotta study for.”

David hummed, looking at his phone for the time. He grimaced. “It’s almost four,” he muttered. “I’ll walk you home. We can get some actual food on the way.”

“Well, damn Dave, you don’t have to ask me twice.” Henry swung his legs from the back of the chair and stood up in a grandiose movement. He scooped up his bag, and his sock beanie before slipping out of the aisle, leaving David to follow behind, pecking absently at his bagel.

It was nice outside, if a little cloudy. The wind whipped at David’s hair, made his ears want to pop. He held the bagel and the paper bag in one hand and stuck the other deep in his jeans pocket.

“Wonder if it’ll rain,” Henry wondered absently, glancing up to the gray skies as the two of them. David hummed, just as absently. They stopped off at the cafeteria. Henry bought a soft taco or two, while David poked around the vegan section. While he himself wasn’t vegan, but rather Kosher, he found that it was perhaps the quickest and easiest bet to get a dairyless, meatless dish and adjust it as he saw best.

Within minutes, the two of them were heading back to the dorm, Henry carting his tacos in a little take-out container, and David with his hummus and bag of Fritos in-hand. They walked with idle talk between them until they reached home. Henry unlocked the door and slid in before David. He sat his bags on his desk before he took off his hat with a groan.

“Now, I’m just going to casually study my eyeballs out for an hour and a half so I can free up my night.” He sat down at his desk chair, practically flopping on the rolley piece of furniture.

David laughed and hung his backpack on the hook behind the door. “Big plans?” he asked.

Henry snorted, “No, not really. I was gonna go hang out with this kid Geoffrey in my Psych in Religion class. He’s not grasping some of the concepts, so I thought I’d go help him out, you know?”

David sighed dreamily, batting his eyelashes. “You’re a good man, Henry,” he said.

He scoffed and waved his hands in David’s direction. “Whatever, man.” He turned in his chair to face the desk and slid his tacos closer to him. “I’m gonna eat, and then conk out to the tune of Rihanna and shitty professor-given tasks.”

“Good luck,” David said, struggling out of his shoes so he could nudge them into a careful line next to the door. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket to find a text from Jack.

> **From: Jacob(s?)**  
>  hey hey pretty boy  
>  do You want to come over for some day old, yet still good pizza and voice chat with the fam?

He lifted an eyebrow at the term of endearment, but breezed past it in the end.

> **To: Jacob(s?)**  
>  The fam?
> 
> **From: Jacob(s?)**  
>  yeah the gc obvi  
>  albie’s personal Hell Pit
> 
> **To: Jacob(s?)**  
>  Sure! I’ll come over.  
>  Bringing my own food, though.
> 
> **From: Jacob(s?)**  
>  cool cool ill Alert The Boys And Girls And Nb Babes

David sighed and tucked his phone back into his back pocket before he bent over so he could toe back into his shoes.

“I’ll be back later, Henry,” he called out before scooping up his things again. “Gonna head out and see Jack.”

Henry merely hummed,waving his hand dismissively. “Okay, David, I’ll see you later.”

The walk was short, and the air was warm and pleasant, warming him from the inside and out. It didn’t take long to find Jack’s dorm room. He knocked twice before he heard someone call for him to come in.

He took a breath, and with the crinkle of the plastic bag in his hand, David twisted the knob and ducked in the door.

Once inside, he saw Jack tucked in the corner between his bed and a desk, a canvas in his lap and a paintbrush in his hand. David took a second and lingered in the doorway, watching how Jack’s hair fell into his face, and the little blobs of blue paint that were stuck in the strands. There was a paintbrush held in his hand, and he swished it in a little jar of water in front of him before dabbing it in a palette of color.

Jack leaning forward to shut his laptop snapped David out of such musings, especially when Jack looked up at the newcomer, locking David’s eyes with his, and he grinned brighter than the sun. “Davey! Oh my God, hi.” He carefully moved his canvas aside and above, onto the top of his desk. He placed his paint water beside it before he stood up.

David smiled at him. “Hi. I made it.”

“I’m glad.” Jack shuffled, shrugging as he looked around the room. “Uh. So, this is it! Kelly’s Place, I guess.” He laughed sheepishly and gestured vaguely around the room. “My roommate usually isn’t in unless it’s like the early hours, so you can come in and make yourself at home. Just, um, can you take off your shoes? Roommate’s kind of picky about that.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” David said and toed out of his shoes. He set his backpack down before inching farther into the room. “Where do I sit?” he asked Jack, looking around the small two-person dorm. Jack’s half was littered art supplies and printed papers, the occasional textbook peeking out from under a blanket, or under the bed. The other half wasn’t much better, what with the papers scattered everywhere and the unmade bed and dirty laundry scattered all over their side of the room.

“Erm. I dunno. There’s my chair, you can sit on the bed, the floor.” Jack himself picked a few things up off of his floor and tossed them off onto the bed. The last thing was his laptop, picking it up so he could sit down on the edge of his mattress, settling the computer beside him.

David brought his backpack to the desk and settled in the chair.

“Like I said, I do have pizza, if you want it.” Jack said, looking pointedly at the pizza box on his roommate’s desk. “It’s chicken and pineapple.”

“I would,” David said sheepishly. “But I can’t really eat that kind of thing.” He shrugged a shoulder. He looked to the desk and found a small clear place to settle his food on.

“What kinda thing?” Jack asked curiously, his head giving a little tilt. He pulled his legs up onto the mattress and folded them underneath himself.

“I eat Kosher,” he explained, “I’m Jewish.”

“I thought you just couldn’t have pork and stuff,” Jack said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well, there’s more to it than that.” David crossed an ankle over his knee. “There’s a lot of rules to go with it. I can’t eat pork, or shellfish, because they’re unclean. But I also can’t eat meat and dairy products together. They can’t even be on the same plate.”

“Oh.” Jack nodded his head, soaking in the new information. “So no pizza.”

“No pizza,” David affirmed.

“I’ll remember that,” Jack promised. His phone made a small sound, and he reached across his bed to grab at it. “Says ‘ _Earth to Jack did your wifi die or did you get kidnapped both is possible let’s be honest.”_ He snorted and David lifted an eyebrow at him in question before he remembered.

“Oh! The voice chat, right?”

Jack laughed, nodding. “Yeah. I just shut my laptop earlier. Didn’t even tell them you were here.” He typed out a quick reply to the chat before he tossed his phone to the bed again. “Typical of them, really. Assume both the best and the worst at both times. Can I put them back on?”

“Yes, totally. Please do.”

Jack grinned at him before taking his laptop again. “Nice,” he murmured, getting it all set up.

David twisted in his chair, going to remove the plastic container of hummus from his bag and all the little things he brought along with it. It wasn’t long before David heard the tell-tale sounds of the Discord voice chat connecting before a seemingly a thousand voices came all at once.

“ _-ate MY NOODLES!_ ” someone declared, making David laugh at the sudden absurdity of it.

“Jesus!” Jack cried. “I’ve been gone for five minutes! What did I miss?”

“The war, Thomas Jefferson,” a voice snapped playfully. “The whole goddamn war.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Specs, honestly. Try making references that we can actually understand.”

“ _You_ understood it.”

Seeing how Jack spluttered, his whole face falling was a real treat if ever David saw one. He laughed quietly at the way Jack grumpily muttered “Touché.”

“Jack, I wouldn’t have taken you for one into musical theater,” David mentioned lightly. He snapped open the lid of his hummus and took to it. Jack winced, grimacing.

“I mean,” he floundered, “I’m _not_. Hamilton’s just like, super famous. Most non-theater people know about it, so…”

“Oh my God, Jack, you’re so full of shit!” another voice shouted out from the laptop.

Jack glanced over, eyes wide. “Shut the fuck up, Race!”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Race spit off in rapid succession, “look bud. I can pull up at least seven different examples of you showing your Broadway trash side. I’d be careful if you don’t want to be _exposed._ ”

Jack snorted, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said confidently. “You’re bluffing.”

Someone made a choking sound. “I wouldn’t test him,” they said, a New York accent coloring their words, “Race’s got the biggest blackmail stash ‘sides me.”

“That’s Albert,” Jack advised out of the corner of his mouth, apparently catching the thoughtful look on David’s face. “And I doubt that. Racer can’t remember to tie his shoes, much less gather a bunch of embarrassing shit on us.”

“Alright,” Albie ventured. “If you wanna test him.”

“Rip in pieces, Jackie,” Specs cackled.

“Just let him try!” Jack challenged, leaning back to his pillows. He twisted around and filched around the space between his bed and the wall before he came back with a bag of chips.

“I’ve a feeling that this isn’t going to end well,” David piped up. He stood up and crossed the room to retrieve his laptop before he went back and sat on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him. He reached up behind him, filching on the desktop for his food. He brought it down carefully and set it to the side. A moment, to the tune of bickering background voices and Jack’s crunching on potato chips, David had pulled up the discord server. Now he could see whose voice was whose.

He plugged in his earbuds. He intended to use them simply for the mic, since he could hear it from Jack’s speakers. He didn’t want overlap, so he muted the sound, but left his mic on.

“It is _done_ ,” Race announced loudly, a thick, very badly done, French impression going on. “Check my tumblr, you fucks. Get the word out.”

“Ah, actually, I don’t think I have your tumblr,” David muttered.

“Don’t worry Davey, I’ll send in the chat.”

A link popped up and David barely glanced at it before he opened it. It took him to another tab, pulling up a somewhat familiar-looking blog.

David frowned, poking through the page. He didn’t visit the actual blogs very often, mostly just utilizing the sidebar pop-up, so he wouldn’t even need to leave his dash or activity page. But something about this seemed familiar. He looked up to the URL, reading the name before it clicked. _racetrack-diccins.tumblr.com_. No wonder it looked familiar.

Another big name fan - an artist, who was best known for his work on a particular fireman au.

David murmured a curse. What the fuck even was his life.

Shaking his head resolutely, shutting the fanboy-freakout for later, he clicked the _refresh_ tab that took him to the top of the blog.

The latest post was a bunch of screenshots all compiled together.

The first bunch was of a discord chat, each one featuring a different instance of Jack referencing a musical.

> **discount Sonci 1/27/17**  
>  you say that there are no good texans, but here is me, a cute chill gay texan
> 
> **Pups ‘n’ more 1/27/17**  
>  ur not chill, racer
> 
> **majorly problematic 1/27/17**  
>  but you COULD be  
>  i just need $400
> 
> **discount Sonci 1/27/17**  
>  what are you tryna sell me exactly??? 0_0
> 
> **majorly problematic 1/27/17** ****  
> nothin notthin definitely not an evil computer chip  
>  *whistles*

David snorted, laughing quietly. He looked up at Jack, who was floundering, reading all of the text.

“Oh my God,” he muttered, gobsmacked.

“Suffer,” Racer said, sounding very smug.

> **Big Papa Mod #1 4/19/17**  
>  Ok but real talk i’ve read so much academic bullshit today that my brain h u r t s :frowning:
> 
> **majorly problematic 4/19/17**  
>  oh my god  
>  BRAIN  
>  THERE IS TROUBLE IN HIS BRAIN  
>  ANEURYSM, TUMOR  
>  WE DONT KNOW

David didn’t quite get that one. He assumed that it was a lesser-known type of production.

The next one was yet another Be More Chill instance, but David himself was in on this one. Or, at least he was present when it happened.

> **Pups ‘n’ more (spot his/her)** today at 09:49  
>  Good entrance, Jack
> 
> **discount Sonci (Race he/him)** today at 09:49  
>  _Jackie makes an ennntrranncceeeeee_
> 
> **SPECtacular (specs fk pronouns)** today at 09:50  
>  ALSO DAVEY IS HERE AND HE’S EXPOSED™ YOU ON ALL LEVELS
> 
> **majorly problematic™** today at 09:50  
>  1) was that a fuckign bmc ref how dare you i am obviously richie, the troubled bi youth  
>  2) ive always god good entrances spot thank you

He supposed that was a group effort, though.

The others went in a similar fashion, the messages telling of a quick banter and references given under the radar. One that David giggled the most at, was one instance where Spot had said “said by _me_ , a reformed manwhore,” (David found he wanted the context on that one) to which Jack sent the message: “-Whizzer Brown, 1981.”

“This is pretty damning,” David said, getting to the bottom. At the end of the post was the caption.

> **racetrack-diccins**  
>  not _even_ gonna bother vaguing.  
>  **_CALLOUT TO_** **_@majornews WHO IS A CLOSET THEATER N E R D_** spread the word!!! Do not let him lie to the masses like this!!!  
>  ((some screenshots courtesy of **@thegroundsofbrooklyn** ))
> 
> _Aug 17_            7 notes  
>  _#i cannot beKIEVE_ _#Honestly Major You Should Know That I Never Forget Anything #i’ve the steel trap of a elephant_ _#ok that’s an exaggeration but ykw fuk u so there_ _#Place Your Bets #friends_ _#majornews_ _# thegroundsofbrooklyn_

David laughed, quickly going to reblog it.

“Oh my God!” Jack shouted again. “Racer! I can’t believe this! I _trusted_ you.”

“Why would you ever do that?” Race asked faux-innocently.

“‘Cause I didn’t know I was dealing with a backstabber!” Jack burst.

Someone made a laughing sound, and David looked and saw that it was Specs. “There’s a very important lesson here,” they said.

“Trust no one!” Spot finished for them.

Jack scoffed darkly. “Well, I ain’t trusting _you goons,_ that’s for fucking sure. Davey, look at me.” He did, looking at Jack with an amused little lift to his eyebrow. “Get out now. You’ll never survive with these backstabbers.”

David grinned brilliantly at him. “I think they’re great,” he challenged.

Jack clutched a hand to his chest. “Not you, too!”

David laughed at the melodrama. He ate his food and the conversation continued on. The little traces of tension left his shoulders and he relaxed.

Yeah. He thought that this was pretty great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [bleh here's my tumblr](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com)
> 
> oh. lemme know if y'all get that other, less obvious musical ref! i wanna know if anyone but me'll actually get it


	6. YO BAE CONGRATS ON YOUR FACE (Jack)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack Discovers that Davey isn't as straight as he thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI!!!!
> 
> I bet you fucking forgot this fic existed. I don't blame you. I just. this chapter was so hard. jack's POV is so hard to write for. Someone give me the secret to writing for him.
> 
> anyway. we get a look into jack's pining little life.
> 
> enjoy! don't forget to leave me a comment! I will be replying to all of last chapter's comments tonight, so don't worry. i need to get back into the swing of things H a h. jesus christ i need help
> 
> also this is edited just a little bit, but i'm gonna review it later tomorrow or smthn yk

####  Chapter 6 (Jack) Monday

Jack’s day started with a picture. Happening upon it was... a spiritual moment. Jack thought that he could lose himself in the way the light played over the curly, dark hair, or how it reflected in those beautiful green eyes, giving him a window beyond what was portrayed by the camera lense.

Shit, shit, shit, Jack’s got to get his head out of the art classes. He was slipping, finding symbolism in the littlest, most mundane things. Like what the sleepy little pout on those lips was about, or what the way Davey held his shoulders meant.

What the fuck, Jacob? He scrubbed a knuckle into his eyes (mainly so he could bear to drag his eyes away from the picture sent to him, but we wasn’t going to look into that.) and let out a tight breath.

_ “JoJo’s gonna kill me.” _ That’s the only contextual clue given with the picture. It was the only thing that had been sent to the chat for the last three or so hours, and Jack was feeling  _ personally _ attacked by the sleepy, early morning selfie.

_ “Who’s jojo and do i hafta fight them” _ is what he ended up sending. He almost had to physically restrain himself from sending something  _ embarrassing _ like  _ wOW BAE CONGRATS ON YOUR FACE _ . Or something on the  _ opposite _ side of the spectrum. Like that one post where the kid put the “Get out of my school” note in their first crush’s locker after getting all lovesick and it made them feel weird, or whatever.

Not that Jack was a third grader so inept at dealing with his emotions that he would react in such an extreme way. Hah. Probably not. Right?

Maybe a nice  _ Get out of my server _ was in order, after all.

Fuck, Jack had problems.

Well. Problem. Singular. Uno. One. One very, very cute problem that he’s known for almost a month, named  _ Davey _ . Jack isn’t so small that he can’t admit to attraction. He, a young, unattached, man had  _ eyes _ . His attraction-sensors, or whatever, worked just like everyone else’s who felt attraction. Honestly, he figured that it was only a matter of time. Davey was cute; they were interested in many, many of the same things, and they got on well with each other.

Jack knew that he would be in trouble, he was just waiting for himself to finally realize it. And, guess what. He had.  _ Ho boy, had he. _

Ol’ Jacob was in trouble, and he  _ knew _ it.

And yeah, he could admit it. He had a bit of a crush. He just... didn’t know how to deal with it.

So he didn’t.

_ Whoops _ .

He shoved it down to deal with  _ later _ and paid attention to the conversation at hand.

Davey told him that JoJo was, in fact, the director in the production that Davey was involved with.

The production was structured oddly. It seemed like they were workshopping the play in its entirety before they actually hit the ground running with its production. Which was cool. Davey told him that it was because it was a senior project. They were trying to get the play, something  _ new _ and completely  _ unseen _ .

Dave said that it was being kept so far underwraps that Shakespeare had nothing on them.

Jack thought that that was a bit extreme, but he wasn’t going to judge. They more than likely had their reasons for their security and he wasn’t going to fuck with that.

Mostly because they kind of scared him, but  _ shhh _ . He won’t talk about that.

Soon he shut Discord, setting to his textbooks. There was an essay calling his name the he needed to get cracking on. It was almost done, really. He just needed to insert sources and finish formatting everything. He’d look over it one last time before he saved it away to hand in tomorrow.

It was well after three when he resurfaced from the river of knowledge.

He realized a couple of things, so he decided to make a bullet pointed list. It goes as follows:

  * If Hunger was a physical person, its name would be Jack.
  * There was no food in his dorm.
  * The cafeteria wasn’t much of a walk from the auditorium.



The last point might not connect too well with the others, but that’s okay because it connected fine with the last point, and that point connected everything together like a groove of a Lincoln Log.

  * It had been a hot minute since he’d seen Davey face-to-face.



And, you know, by  _ hot minute _ , he meant like four days.

BUT! He also felt that the amount of time between them was far too long and that it needed to be  _ corrected _ .

So he pulled his phone out of the desk drawer it was carefully stored in (productivity insurance) and slid into his text messages. He found Davey’s number easily and tapped on it readily.

**To: Pretty Boy Blue** ****  
u kno what we oughta do   
we oughta hang   
and get food

No sense is beating around the bush, after all. Davey replied not long afterwards.

**From: Pretty Boy Blue** ****  
actually we’re almost done   
do you want to come and meet me? bring food and ill eat it with you

**To: Pretty Boy Blue**   
HA! IT’S A DATE!   
ILL BE THERE REALLY SOON SO WATCH OUT

**From: Pretty Boy Blue**   
!!!

Jack slipped on his shoes and looked around his dorm, trying to gadge what all he needed. Dum, dum, dum, dum. Uhm… Wallet, keys, his ID… He patted himself down absently while he thought. He thought that he needed something else, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Eh. It’d be fine.

He grabbed a few other things and then he was out the door.

He bought mac and cheese at the cafeteria before he took off towards the auditorium. It was sunny, and he reveled in the warmth it gave him. He rolled his neck as he walked down the sidewalk, letting his eyes slip shut.

That was, of course, the moment that someone knocked into his chest. Perhaps he knocked into their chest? All semantics. It was all the same in the end, because Jack’s front was covered in a sticky mess of Dr. Pepper, dripping from his abdomen down to soak into the crotch of his jeans.

_ Fantastic. _

He jumped back, yelling a surprised curse at the cold soda.

The other person yelped as well.

“Holy chip! Dude, I am so freaking sorry. Do you need help? I don’t, like, have any napkins. I have a sweatshirt? Wanna borrow it? You can tie it around your waist until you can get changed. You can, like, return it later. Or not at all. Heck, I wouldn’t even blame you.”

The rambled words streamed into Jack’s ears, but he didn’t fully comprehend any of them. He was all too busy trying to dig through his plastic bag for the napkins so he could try and mop some of the mess from himself.

“Oh. You’ve got napkins. Cool. Sweatshirt offer still stands, I promise.”

He finally picked his head up to look at them. They were as tall as he was, maybe a bit taller. Hair was styled in a messy sort of pixie cut - they had probably cut it themselves, a common thing that Jack had seen around campus. After all, hair cuts were expensive. All you needed was a pair of scissors and a friend (if that) and you were set.

True to their word, they were tugging the college logo-stamped sweatshirt off so they could hold it out to Jack - Jack, who wondered if they were as cold as the goosebumps on their arms portrayed them to be.

“I’m… I’m fine,” he promised. “I don’t need your sweatshirt.”

“Dude. Bro. My guy.” They sighed and shook their head, practically waving the clothing in Jack’s face. “Take it, dude.”

Jack hesitated, a doubtful, high pitched noise idling between them as he slowly reached out and took the sweatshirt.

“Where are you heading, stranger?” they asked, all sparkling eyes and easy grins.

“The auditorium,” Jack answered. “Going to meet a friend who’s working there.”

“Well. Ain’t that a coinkydink.” They winked at him. “That’s where I’m headed. Visiting a friend, too. Can we go together?”

Jack blinked owlishly before the world caught back up to him. “Oh. Sure! Yeah, let’s do it.”

And so they did. The walk was great, filled with pleasant conversation. Jack learned that his companion’s name was Buttons, and they weren’t apart of this college, but rather another one close by. They were dating the play’s director, JoJo. A fact Jack found funny, because he wanted to lowkey date the assistant director with hazel eyes.

Ahem. Cough cough. Never mind that.

They walked into the theater on a friendly high and made their way to the inner doors.

The stage was littered with parts of propr, bodies and scripts.

Davey was standing, script held in his hand as he was held in another’s eyes. All wrapped up in the older boy’s arms, he looked more at-ease than Jack would have expected, for a straight man. At a note from the director (a respectable-looking person with a clipboard. Jack assumed that this was the infamous JoJo) Davey took a half a step backwards, leaning further into the other man’s arms.

“God, I wish that were me,” Jack muttered, quoting a meme Charlie often used.

Buttons hummed, smirking devilishly. “Oh? Which one?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “The one behind. Boy in front’s name is Dave. He is the goddamn cutest.”

Buttons smiled an odd smile and patted his shoulder. “Offer to help him rehearse,” they advised, “and  _ get you some _ .”

Jack groaned, his hand swiping a hand over his face. “If only,” he lamented. “He’s straight and I’m suffering.”

An odd look was tossed his way. Jack only caught the tail end of it before the crackle of a bullhorn reached his ears.

“Whomst the fucketh is in my theater?” a regal voice demanded, stretching the last word into sounding something like  _ ‘the-a-tahr.’ _

Button’s face was instantly alit with joy.

“Baby!” they cried, running down the aisles.

JoJo’s voice was comical. “Buttons!” they cried through the bullhorn. They checked their watch and jumped, grimacing. “Oh my god. Alright, y’all! Pack up. See you next time.”

“I know you’re in rehearsal, so I won’t be here too long,” Buttons said. Jack heard it absently, but he suddenly, magically, no longer cared.

Why, you ask? Well, little string bean, let him tell you. All of the sudden, like magnets, or magic, or  _ something _ else great, Davey looked at him. They met eyes from across the theater, and Davey smiled so fucking wide that Jack’s heart swelled and thumped against his ribcage.

He felt like that vine where the kid’s like “Oh my fucking god, she’s fucking dead.” Jack was certain that if he was prodded and poked, he would appear as dead as that little girl’s doll.

Davey untangled himself from the other man’s arms, still smiling as he talked and gave him excuses. The man laughed, brushed a thumb along Davey’s jaw before nudging him to turn around. And then Davey was running down the steps, and Jack was hurrying towards him too.

“Hi.” Davey’s hair was mussed and sticking every which way. Jack wanted to reach out and see if it was as soft as it looked. “

"Hi," Jack replied, smiling. He lifted up his sack. "I got us food."

"Nice," Davey said, his nose crinkling slightly. Ugh. He needed to tone it down. "I'm starved."

He led Jack down the aisles and up the stage.

The actors all mingled around, trading conversation as they readied to go home.

"So how goes it?" Jack asked, looking around the production.

"Well," Davey said. "It's sorta tricky right now, as we're trying to figure everything out, but it's totally fine. We've got a bunch of great guys and I think they're really gonna kill it."

"Nice," Jack said, parroting Davey's earlier words. "Sorry to interrupt like this," he went on sheepishly.

Davey shrugged. "JoJo said that we were supposed to call it, like, ten minutes ago, so it's fine. No worries, Jackie."

_ Hnnnngggggggggg. Jackie. _ If there was one thing Jack was, he was a sucker for nicknames.

Jack thumped up the stairs, the jacket around his waist shifting and flopping around weirdly as he walked. He wanted to adjust it, but he also didn't want to call attention to the stick mess down his front. Instead, he just shimmied his hips in a sad attempt at alleviating the discomfort and sat down on the lip of the stage next to Davey.

JoJo and Buttons were off to the side, talking animatedly. Jack thought that they were both super cute.

"I would ask what y'all were doing in here, but I kinda wanna keep my life. I heard it was tighter security in here than the White House."

Davey laughed, elbow deep in the plastic sack between them. "You've no idea. JoJo's almost paranoid."

There was feedback from a bullhorn. "I heard that, Jacobs," JoJo remarked from across the stage. "I will boot you. Don't test me."

"Sorry," Davey called, flashing them a brilliant smile.

_ Hhhnnnggggggggggggggggggggggggg. _

JoJo lifted an eyebrow. "I will be watching," they warned.

Dave went back to their mac n cheese. What an icon.

"Anyway," Davey said, in a quieter tone. "It's fine. We were blocking our second scene. My tender moment with Act I's love interest." He nodded to the man Jack saw earlier. He was tall and had to lean his head forward in order to talk to one of the other cast members, a girl who was... quite short. He smiled at her, laughing at what she had to say.

"What a heart throb," Jack mused.

"I'd say," Davey laughed. "His name's Hugh. He's from Florida," he confided, "which explains the tan for days and highlighted hair."

Jack frowned. "You can artificially tan and get highlights done?"

Davey just shook his head. "There's a difference, and you know it. I mean. Does that look like a spray tan to you?"

Jack looked at hugh, a little downturn to his mouth. "I don't know."

Davey hummed. "Maybe I'll ask," he mused. "After all, my Act I life is a considerable amount of times being close to the man."

"Lucky," Jack huffed playfully, elbowing Davey's side. Davey looked at him, a goofy smile on his mouth.

"I'll say," he joked, wiggling his eyebrows.  _ Huh. _ Maybe Davey wasn’t as hetero as Jack had assumed. He spent all of six second kicking himself for assuming Davey’s sexual orientation before the realization sunk in. And then the hope began to bloom in his chest. Maybe he had a chance.

Jack set it aside for the moment and set to opening the mac n cheese. It was the good stuff. What gourmet mac n cheese  _ wished _ it could be.

Davey took one bite and almost melted.  _ Score _ .

"This is really, really good," he sighed. "Thanks for feeding me."

"Thanks for giving me the chance away from my textbooks," Jack returned, grinning devilishly.

"Anytime. As long as it isn't exam time. Then I'm buckling you down with your books to work."

Jack groaned. "You're such a goody two shoes," he sighed out.

Davey laughed. "You've no idea what I am!" he declared.

They ate mostly in peace until someone came and dropped their shit between them, a backpack, water bottle, and a jacket. Davey glanced at them and then went back to his food, seemingly uninterested in the newcomer. Jack squinted at the boy, trying to remember if he knew him from anywhere.

Shorter, stocky but obviously fit. He probably worked out fairly regularly. His blond hair was tousled and his face was sweaty. He knelt behind Davey and slumped against his back. His chin dug into Davey's neck and he made grabby hands for a fork.

"Feed me," he gasped out, sticking his bottom lip out like a child.

Davey forked a couple of shells onto the prongs and lifted them up to the new kid's mouth. Jack watched in fascination as the kid ate from Davey's fork without a care in the world.

Finally, Dave dolled out a simple little introduction. "Jack, this is Henry. Henry, Jack. The owner of the food you’re eating."

Henry waved, rolling his head to look at Jack. He nodded one against Davey and gave a tiny salute. "What's up, my dude," he said, "thanks for the grub."

He gave a coy little grin and then prodded Davey into giving him another bite. Davey rolled his eyes, but obliged.

"My roommate," Davey answered Jack's lingering question. "We've been together since freshman year."

Jack's eyes widened, all the hope that began to flourish all deflated with a single breath. It was like Davey just took a pin to the careful balloon of elation Jack was raising. But. He put it aside. He made himself give a smile to Henry. "What's up, man. Good to meet you."

"Same here," Henry said. He finally found it in himself to pull away from Dave so he could plop down next to him. "I'm so tired," he griped. "Ready for a nap and a half."

Jack snorted. "You can do that?" he asked.

"Oh yeah." Henry bobbed his head. "It's when you nap for, like, four hours, and then you wake up, go to the bathroom, and then go back to sleep for another hour. Revolutionary, I assure you."

"Interesting. Need to try that."

"Side effects may include: drowsiness, irritability, hunger, and a mild headache."

Jack hummed. "Well, maybe it isn't worth it, then."

Henry shrugged, a grin on his face. "To each their own, I guess."

"Yeah, sleeping the entire day isn't for everyone," Davey advised, nudging Henry with his shoulder.

Henry just shrugged carelessly. "It's whatever," he sighed.

“So Henry, what do you do?” Jack asked behind a mouthful of noodle.

Henry grinned at him. “I’m a dancer. A lot of ballet, some tap.”

Jack bobbed his head, soaking that in. “Cool, cool.”

“What about you?” Henry asked, eyes all full of curiosity.

Jack laughed sheepishly. “A writer.”

Henry nodded in approval. “This one, too,” he noted, poking Davey’s side. Davey jumped and scowled at Henry, making a little face at him. “Ticklish fiend,” Henry laughed. He feigned going to poke Davey again, but settled back down after a minute to dig back in the dish.

They finished their mac n cheese in a friendly little atmosphere until JoJo kicked them out, claiming that they needed to lock up. The trio gathered their trash and headed them and headed out. On the sidewalk outside, Henry shrugged a windbreaker on around him, the fabric making odd shifty noises as he did.

Jack looked between Davey and Henry, making note of the space between them and the glanced that they traded. Jack caught them making weird, silly faces at each other a moment ago.

Well, he guessed that it wasn't "caught," if they weren't hiding it.

"Well boys," Jack said lightly, throwing his arms around both of them. "I oughta head out. I have a date with a certain psych book and God knows she'll be pissed off if I keep her waiting."

Davey laughed. "Okay. Thanks for the food." Henry chriped his agreement with a bright little smile. "I'll buy next time, okay?"

"You got it," Jack replied. He unwound his arms from them and started off. He twisted around and walked backwards for a few paces, calling, "Text you later!"

Davey grinned. "Good!" he called back.

And then Jack was running across campus, back to his dorm building.

He made it there in record time, checking in and taking the elevator to the fifth floor.

At first he intended to go up two extra floors and then jog down the remaining two flights of stairs, just to work off some extra energy, but he took one look at the door to the stairwell and instantly turned his back on it. Instead, he went to a room down one of the hallways and knocked firmly on it.

Elmo opened the door and peered out curiously.

"Oh! Jack, hi babe." He swung the door open and let the other man in.

Jack face planted on the floor, groaning into the shag rug laying on the floor. Elmer nudged him with his toe and made an inquisitive noise. "What happened?"

"I found out that Davey ain't single," he announced into the rug, voice coming out muffled and garbles.

" _ Oh _ ," Elmo hummed. "Who is she? Anyone we know?"

" _ He _ ," Jack corrected, lifting his face so he could prop his face up via his chin, "is Davey's roommate. They live together. He's cute. And blond. And a  _ dancer _ . And cis." The ending bit was a miserable little confession.

Elmo gave a little groan as he crouched down next to Jack. He ran a soothing hand between Jack's shoulder blades. "That doesn't invalidate you in any way," he murmured comfortingly. "You're the most talented, handsome boy I know. Even if you dance like you're a rooster who just saw a dog."

"How dare you," Jack remarked, a small smile creeping up his mouth. "I am a delight and I can cut a rug better than the best of them."

"I never said you couldn't," Elmo remarked. He patted Jack's shoulder and sat down on the floor, folding his legs under himself. "I thought he was straight."

"Me too. I was really surprised when Henry came up and started loving on him."

"Loving?" Elmo echoed.

Jack shrugged. "Close enough."

"Hm." There was a little lull before Elmer prodded Jack's bicep. "Come on." He sighed as he stood up. "Let's watch a movie. Or get froyo. Your choice."

Jack groaned a little. "Froyo. And then we can get caught up on those Animal Planet documentaries you like."

Elmo grinned. "Let's get it!" He looked Jack up and down when he stood up again. He frowned. “What the fuck is on your shirt?” he asked. “Who’s sweatshirt?”

Jack looked down, registering the stickiness against his skin again. He grimaced. “I’ll tell you over froyo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> henry and davey??? queer platonic partners??? more likely than you think
> 
> my tumblrs: [personal](http://peanutbutterandbitter.tumblr.com) | [newsies](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com) | [falsettos](https://love-devour-covet-keep.tumblr.com)


	7. Of Farmer's Markets and Boxed Wines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David's had a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **There's trigger warnings for this chapter, kiddos.  
> **  
>  There's a homophobia trigger (in relation to a minor character) and slight alcohol mention. (Not much, no one gets drunk. It's just sorta There.)  
> also a tiny mention of tarot reading. If you need any of these marked in the chapter before you read, send me an ask on tumblr @itsnewstome and I will be more than happy to mark them out for you.  
> Be careful, be safe and enjoy <3 ****
> 
> I actually really like this chapter. It takes place about a week before the last chapter, leading into were last chapter left off. As long as you keep that in mind, you oughta be fine.  
> also catch me putting that sweet sweet jojo/buttons in

The email went out on Tuesday, just like David said. The full cast list was there, along with the other staff and tech workers. There was contact information and directions on where to meet "bright and early" at 1 PM Monday after next. It was all set in motion, now.

David's eyes skimmed up and down. He knew most of the people, but JoJo was still on the fence about a few others when last he'd talked to them.

Apparently they had made up their mind the last minute.

One name caught his eyes in particular:  _ Peter - Henry Lenry-Cook _ .

Aha! There it is! Of course, he knew that Henry had gotten in long before this email - but it was different, seeing it in the official call list.

He drummed his fingers against his desktop and tried to bring himself to focus on the lecture once more. The professor was very energetic today, practically bouncing from one end of the hall to the other.

David wondered if Henry had gotten the email, yet. If he was out of his Spanish class, he should have. That class got out at 2:30, but it was only 1:45 right now.  _ Heck _ . David hoped that he could see it soon. He wasn't going to text him prematurely and ruin the surprise. It was hard enough to keep his mouth shut about how strongly JoJo was leaning towards him.

David slipped his phone back into his pocket and refocused his attention. Henry would text him soon enough.

         He got the call at three. David was at the cafe (Elmer wasn't on-shift, sadly, but he figured that that was a bit of a silver lining. Without a friend to distract, maybe he could finish that chapter that had been nagging at him for weeks), sipping on an iced coffee, tucked into a corner booth next to a tiny sliver of window.

His phone buzzed and he answered the call with a certain David Brand™ of distraction, with split attention as he went between three tasks at once.

"Hello," he hummed, fingers in the middle of typing a sentence.

"Dave!" Henry shouted, startling David. He jumped and his fingers clicked keys that should not have been clicked.

"Henry! Hi, how are you?"

"I got it!" he continued to shout. "I got the part! I can't believe you didn't tell me about this; how many times did I ask you, Dave? And look! I got it. Me!" David could hear the excitement in his voice. David didn't know which one of them was prouder of Henry.

"You know I couldn't have," David laughed. He leaned his chin into the palm of his hand and took a small sip of his coffee. "Sworn to secrecy."

He could just imagine the way Henry rolled his eyes. "What-the-fuck-ever." He huffed, but bounced back in record time. "But this is amazing. I can't wait."

"The show's great," David confided. "You're gonna love it."

"No, it's not even just about the show," Henry went on, voice going soft. "This is, like, my first  _ male _ role, Davey. It's... JoJo's the first person to think that I actually pass enough to play a man. This is the fucking best thing in the world for me, you know?" His voice was elated, and David felt his words wrap around him. His pride in Henry only grew.

"Well," David said slowly. "It's time to celebrate, then! You get to choose. What are you gonna have us do?"

Henry made an excited noise. "David Jacobs, you spoil me and I love you," he sighed happily. "Okay, uhm. I don't know. You wanna go get ice cream and hit the farmer's market?"

David grinned. "I'll pack up here and we'll get a cab." He began shoving things into his bag. He snapped the plastic lid back on his iced coffee and hastened to shut his bag and slip the strap over his shoulder. Finishing the chapter would have to wait, he realized.

"You got it!" Henry said. "I'll hurry back to the dorm and get dressed."

"You aren't dressed?" David questioned.

"Hell no. I'm in sweatpants and a big-ass hoodie. Classes aren't worth getting dressed up for, you know this."

"I do," David conceded. "I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"You got it!" Henry's smile could’ve be heard for miles, David thought.

The call ended and David hurried home as quick as he could.

The cab ride to the market was moderate. The traffic wasn't bad and that counted for a lot in David's mind. He still dreaded cabs, knowing what a New York-styled traffic jam could look like. Sometimes he forgot that they never got  _ quite _ as bad here.

The market was loaded with different stalls and vendors. There was an old man selling honey, another selling soaps made of goat milk, perfumed with lavender and the like. David saw canned goods (and was very tempted to buy a jar of spicy pickles. God, was he a fan of spicy things.) and fresh veggies alike.

Henry had wide, adoring eyes as he systematically went through everything.

At one point, he dragged David across the lot to get their tarot cards read. Rather, Henry had his tarot cards read while David watched with great amusement. David didn’t trust tarot readers - not after the Great Queens-Melanie Debacle of 2010.

Henry pointed out different artists, and David's breath caught when he saw their work. The pieces were light and had the distinct feeling of freedom. He suddenly wished that he could afford a piece. He wanted support the artist, but he couldn't afford so much liberal spending at one time.

Sadly, he made a mental note to come back when he could, and he and Henry moved on.

David made them stand and listen to a musician. He plucked at his guitar strings and sang a dramatic tune. He was totally making eyes with Davey - okay, maybe it was wishful thinking, but the connection was there and he felt it.

Henry prodded him with an elbow. He leaned up and muttered “Get his number,” into his ear.

Regardless, David didn’t get his number. He left a fiver in his hat, a coy little smile, and they went off.

They ended the night in homemade chocolate ice cream. Henry carried a jar of honey and various fresh fruits in a plastic bag on his arm. Davey had eaten the one apple he had purchased already.

“Davey,” Henry said as they milled about on the sidewalk. David was in the middle of phoning for a cab. He hummed curiously and looked up to Henry. “I don’t know if you feel that,” he said softly, “but I think that this is gonna be a great semester.”

David nudged Henry’s arm with his elbow and smiled at him. “I don’t think you could be any more right,” he said. Henry grinned and took a bite of his ice cream (Yes, a bite. With teeth. Henry really was an animal, David found). David finished his call and slipped his cell phone back into his pocket.

“We ought to come to these things more often,” he said resolutely. “I mean it. This was, like, super fun. I demand more.”

David laughed. “You’ve got it, Henry. Sometimes I forget that it happens so often.”

Henry nodded. He licked up a dribbble of ice cream racing down his cone to his fingers. “We’ll take the boys next time.”

He frowned and looked Henry up and down. “Boys?”

“Mhm. The ones that you’ve been hanging out with.”

“Oh! Jack and Elmer.”

“Yeah! Them. I’ve started to think you’re abandoning me for them,” Henry teased.

"Oh hush," David said, bumping into him. Henry tossed him a bright look, a smirk playing at the ends of his mouth.

"You sound quick to deny it," he mused. "I wonder... Might our Davey Dearest have something of a crush, mayhaps?" He waggled his eyebrows and ate more of his ice cream.

"You're a riot," David told him dryly, rolling his eyes.

"But you're not denying it!"

David scoffed. "There is a difference between attraction and a quote-unquote  _ Crush _ ."

"Oh honey, I know. I experience a lot of both," he joked - even though David caught the sliver of realness beneath. "And, I mean... they're the first couple of Joe's I've ever seen you latch onto."

David shrugged a meek shoulder. "We've got a lot in common."

Henry hummed. "Right-o. Look, Davey. I'm love you. You know I do."

"You're such a fucking meme," David pointed out.

Henry rolled his eyes and caught David's chin in his hands, making the taller boy look him in the eyes. "That I may be. But I am also a wise old cookie who has learned a damn thing or two since coming out here."

"Things such as?" David asked, indulging him.

"Things such as the way of the world, and how  _ you _ work, my friend. I know for a fact that you don't have a lot of friends except me - even ones from New York. I know that you don't entertain people's presences for this long unless you like them. I mean,  _ really _ like them. Like that girl we met our third semester."

"Nessa?" David filled in.

"Yeah, Nessa. Before she dropped out, you two got really close, you know? I hadn't seen you with  _ any _ friends before her."

"I'm an introvert," he tried.

"You're a paradox," Henry corrected. "You're an outspoken and opinionated theater major, who is, at times, very introverted and into time alone and writing his feelings into novels."

"Same difference." David sent him a withering glance. "And that isn't as rare as you say it is," he protested, "I know plenty of kids like that."

"Mhm. Pics, names, and socials, or they don't exist."

David rolled his eyes. "Fuck you, Henry."

"I mean, if you want to, babs." He winked in an over exaggerated motion. They laughed. Henry leaned up against a light pole next to the curb and finished off the rest of his ice cream. "Off track. I'm saying that I'm sure they're good people, if you're into them. I'm glad that you've found them, you know? I'm glad you have people."

David looked at Henry, his eyes soft. A feeling swelled in his chest and it warmed him to his toes. "Thanks, Henry."

Henry winked and stood straight again. "No problemo." He swung his arm, and the bags on his arm became like a nosy, plastic missile that he flung around willy-nilly. "When's that cab getting here? It's gonna get dark soon."

A shrug was his only answer. He looked over the parking lot, watching as people crossed the space to their cars. The night was warm and David wanted to float on the feeling.

_ Henry's right, _ he thought,  _ I think this is going to be a swell semester. _

There was trouble Thursday.

Jack was in his dorm room, sprawled out on David's bed, a laptop on his thighs while he dug through a carton of goldfish. "An AU proposal," Jack said, looking over at Davey, who took up office at his desk. His work was slowly beginning to bleed to Henry's desk, but he resolved not to think about that right now. David perked up instantly, twisting his chair to face Jack.

"Tell me," he commanded.

"Okay, think about this: Rosie is, like... I dunno. In some kind of job that requires a lot of travel, or for her to be gone for long periods of time, you know?"

"Oh!" David interjected. "Albie drew her as a military veteran a couple of days ago."

"Perfect!" Jack exclaimed. "That's amazing. Okay, yes. Rosie's a vet - she's in town for a limited amount of time, maybe she's on leave." He squinted, staring off into space for a moment.

"Maybe she's Navy," David put in slowly, trying to gauge Jack's reaction. "I had this friend growing up, her name was Charlie. Her dad was a Naval officer and they would dock at all sorts of places. He's got stories from everywhere - from Greece, to Italy, to Rio."

Jack nodded. " _ Riiight _ . Yeah, that's good," he granted. He leaned forward and tapped a few things into his Google Doc. "Good deal. So she's a sailor. She meets Daz, and they get close. Maybe not  _ love _ , but it's Something with a capital  _ S _ . Passion, you know?"

"Right," David said, nodding. "I'm with you." He took a sip from his soft drink.

Jack hummed, "Mhm. The cheesy stuff. Like, maybe Rosie writes really simply and cheesy at first, but Daz's are just... insane, right? Her prose is divine and Rosie couldn't have fallen for her quicker if she had tripped." He was still typing out notes as he confessed, "Actually, I think I just really want to write cheesy love letters with a long-distance relationship."

David couldn't help the smile that crept up on his face. "Good at that are you? The letters?" he asked innocently, twisting back to his desk.

He could see Jack lift his head up form his screen to peer at David. "I mean," his speech was slow, teasing. "I can hold my own. Why? Want one?" He wiggled his eyebrows and shimmied his shoulders a bit in a movement David thought was supposed to be alluring.

David snorted and sent Jack a wide grin. "Sure thing. Write me a love letter," he teased.

Jack bit his lip and looked at David through narrow eyes. "I mean, I gotta be careful with that," he mused to himself, looking down again. "It might just turn into a bullet-pointed list of all your best qualities. Your eyes would be on top, your brilliant writing would be... right underneath, maybe."

David's jaw dropped. He was thankful that Jack was looking down, otherwise he might have saw the flush creeping its way onto David’s cheeks.

David stalled for all of eight seconds before he came back to himself. He swallowed thickly and went back to his text. He shook his head, trying to discount Jack's playful banter as just that. He certainly wasn't flirting-

- _ right? _

Right. There's no way that David would be on Jack's radar.

He went to his Discord messages from Sarah. He laughed softly at a screencap she sent over.

"What'cha laughing about?" Jack asked curiously, looking up once more.

"An Onion article Sarah sent over," David explained. He sent it to Jack a second later.

Jack's laptop made a little sound and Jack mirrored it.

_ "Florida Man Dominates Children's Playground," _ he read aloud, stifling a laugh. There was a badly photoshopped picture of a man standing atop a jungle gym, beating his chest like King Kong. “That Florida Man,” Jack laughed outright, shaking his head. “What will he do next?”

“Fight a crocodile, I’m sure,” David offered off-handedly.

“If he hasn’t already,” Jack countered, pointing at David.

David didn’t miss a beat. “Well, you’re right.”

Jack settled back into the bed, tapping at his keyboard. “You know, I don’t know why you don’t just invite Sarah to the group chat,” he mentioned idly. “You mention her all the time, but none of us have ever seen her.”

David stilled. “Am I allowed to do that?” he asked curiously.

“Oh yeah,” Jack said, nodding. “You just gotta clear it with Albie first, I guess - his server and all. But otherwise, hell yeah. Let her join in on the fun.”

“You make it sound like you’re all going to interrogate her for information as soon as she gets in.” David looked at Jack warily. He leaned back and turned his chair idly back and forth.

Jack gave him a devilish grin. “Maybe we will, maybe we won’t.”

David scoffed. “Now I’m frightened.” The sarcasm was strong with this one. “Besides, I don’t really wanna bother Albert.”

Jack snorted. “You will get nowhere in life if you’re afraid of bothering people,” he said, his voice a mockery of an old wise man. He dropped the act instantly and declared, “I’ll ask for you!”

“Alright,” he sighed. “You do you, Jack.”

Jack was busy consulting Albert when David’s phone rang. He had to lean down out of his chair to where it sat innocently on one of David’s left-out sneakers.

He saw JoJo’s name and instantly answered the call.

“Hi JoJo,” he said, standing up. He motioned to the door when Jack looked up curiously.  _ I’ll be right outside, _ he mouthed. Jack nodded and watched as he left the room.

JoJo’s words were quick, precise. Like a crack of a whip, they began, "DAVID! Geoff! His parents cut him off. Geoffrey - he,  _ oh my God, David _ . We’re so fucking fucked. He’s such a good kid, and he has to move all the way back to Montana. I can’t fucking believe this.”

"Whoa, whoa, JoJo." Davi’s back was straight as a rail and he was instantly on alert. He was suddenly very glad that he excused himself. “Take a breath, Jo. Take a second and calm down.”

“Ha. Okay. Easy for you to say,” they snapped, “but okay.”

They took an audible breath and David felt some of the tension leave his shoulders with the sound. “Tell me what happened,” he prodded gently.

“I got an email,” they began. “From Geoff Bigley, it’s like, three pages long. It’s explaining how his cousin outed him to his parents a week and a half ago. He says that they yanked his tuition and that they just cut him off.” They were understandably torn up. “He’s moving in with his grandmother - a champ, I hear. She raised him more than his parents did, anyhow, the email says. He’s out to her, and she’s fine with it. With everything. He’s got to be out of his house by the end of the week.”

David melted against the door, a terrible feeling pooling in his stomach. “Is he okay?” he asked numbly. He felt overheated and he was beginning to lose feeling in his fingertips.

“I called him as soon as I could,” they said. “He’s in a bad spot, but I know him. He’s a good kid. I know he’ll make it through.”

He blew out breath. “I’ll go visit him,” he decided. “See if I can help him, or anything.”

“Good, that’ll be good for him,” JoJo told him. “He lives in a small house about twenty minutes off. I’ll text you his address.”

“Thanks, JoJo.”

“No problem, lovely. I’ll get my things together and meet you there, alright?”

“Okay.”

David tapped his screen and ended the call. He let his head thump back against the wall and let out a miserably little breath. A kid walking by, a skateboard in one hand, a handful of USB cords in another paused on his way by. He looked at David curiously. He cleared his throat and David picked his head up to look at him.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You look a little worse for wear, you know?”

David shrugged. “My friend’s going through some stuff,” he explained. “But thanks for the concern.”

He nodded his head, frowning. “Sorry to hear that,” he mumbled. “Hope it gets better for them.”

David thanked him before he went on his way. He watched as the kid bent over to pull up one of his tube socks before he turned around and ducked back into the room.

Jack was giggling maniacally at his computer screen, listening to something someone said over voice chat. It only took a moment to recognize Spot’s voice. Jack grinned at David, sitting up from where he had slumped down.

“Hi Davey,” he called from across the room. He took a longer look at David’s face and paused. “Everything good?” he asked cautiously.

David shook his head. “One of our cast, Geoff… he’s in a rough family situation right now.” He filched for his shoes under Henry’s bed. How had they ended up under there? He pulled them on and secured the laces tightly. “I’ve gotta head over there right now. He needs me.”

Jack muttered a farewell to Spot before closing his laptop. “Should I come with you?” he asked. He was already slipping off David’s bed to go and find his shoes.

David shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how he’s doing. I just need to go and see how he’s doing right now.”

“Okay.” Jack’s voice was slow and calculated. “Should I just go home, then?”

David straightened up. He shrugged on his jacket and sighed heavily, looking over the little dorm room. “I think so,” he admitted dully. “I’ll call you later, alright? I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s cool; I get it, Dave.” He slipped on his shoes and grabbed all his things and slipped them into his bag. “Call me.”

“I will.” David’s smile was gentle. Jack’s expression was soft, gracious. He looked pretty in the cruddy dorm room lighting, his frown made him look overall very melancholic. David wished that he could have memorized that visual.

Jack made an awkward gesture between them before he was gone.

A moment later and David’s things were all together. He wondered if Geoff had eaten anything yet. He resolved to ask him about it, and take him out if he hadn’t.

Just as he was about to depart, the door opened and Henry came into the room, a hood over his head and earphones snuggly over his ears. He noticed David with a jump. He jerked off his headphones, and his eyes were wide enough to negate the question he was about to ask.

David explained the situation as quickly as he could, and the result was Henry insisting that they split the cost of a cab to get there.

They traipsed up the steps of the little house and knocked tentatively.

Geoff was the one to answer. He… had seen better days, to put it kindly. His eyes held a look of complete and utter devastation, his clothes were rumpled and his hair stuck up every which way - David didn’t know a lot about Geoff, but he had never seen him like this before.

He invited them in, stepping away from the door and swinging it open enough for the two men.

“I, uh… it’s nice to see you guys.” He smiled weakly at them. “Do you want something to drink? I’ve got… I don’t know what I have.” He shrugged. David didn’t miss how his bottom lip wobbled miserably. “I’m kind of in the middle of packing everything up, you know? I mean, I guess you guys heard. JoJo told me that you’d be on your way.”

Henry clicked his tongue and dragged Geoff into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry,” he told him, rubbing firm circles into his back. David ran a hand up Geoff’s arm and listened to how the man’s barely-stable breaths turned into hiccups and loose tears tucked into Henry’s collar.

Soon he sniffled and pulled back. He rubbed the heel of his palm into his eyes and then rubbed his nose. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “This is silly of me.”

Henry ran his hands up and down his arms, a steady, soothing rhythm from shoulders to elbows. “It isn’t,” he told him.

“And you’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” David pitched in. “We understand how this is, it’s nothing we would wish on anybody.”

Geoff nodded, sniffling wetly. “I know that,” he said hollowly. “I still feel like I need to say it. Makes up for how pathetic I’m being, you know.”

David patted his shoulder, but Henry pulled away. “I’m not having it,” he said as he went farther back into the house. “Us, we’re gonna get this stuff done. And then we’re going to have the biggest, baddest going-away party known to man, you get me?”

Geoff just looked at him somberly before he nodded. “Yeah,” he said after a second, “let’s, uh, let’s do it.”

Henry grinned at him. He looked at David. “Babes,” his voice was loud and declarative, “call in the calvary!”

It only took a second before his meaning clicked into place like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He hurried to get his phone. “Mustering the forces as we speak,” he said. He turned and slipped into the hall to take the call alone, Geoff looking curiously after him.

“Calvary?” he questioned Henry.

“You’ll see, Geo. You’ll see.”

The Calvary was, quite simply: the production team.

There were six out of eleven of the play’s cast, along with seven of the tech and production crew.

After each one agreed to come, they were given a grocery list of things to bring - such as disinfectants and trashbags, while others brought foldable cardboard boxes. One of their leads, Hugh Davenburough, brought his pickup truck - that was something David almost fell on his knees to pray thanks for. Not many of them had vehicles, as some of them were from out of state, and most others just simply couldn’t afford it.

When Geoff saw how many people came to help, he couldn’t find any words. He thanked David, Henry and JoJo wholeheartedly.

Together, under Geoff’s careful instruction, rooms were went through. They made Goodwill piles, and determined what Geoff was going to shift to his grandma’s.

After an hour, David detached himself from the group and headed to the kitchen to join the much smaller task force that had set up shop there.

JoJo, their partner Buttons, and a gal named Cate all headed into the kitchen. They were tidying and packing some things, but they got many pots and pans out and were in the middle of making dinner for everyone. It was lasagna night, it seemed. David walked in and was instantly set on Bread Duty.

Buttons tossed him four French loaves of bread and it was all up to him from there.

“Geoff said use whatever we wanted,” Cate noted when David started nervously poking through a cupboard for garlic powder, or garlic salt… He really didn’t have a preference. “He’s going to the airport Saturday, so he kind of needs all of the food in the house gone. He rathers that we use it rather than throw it away.”

David nodded his reply and dug in the cabinet with rigor. He found Tuscan garlic and whipped that with the butter and a little salt. A few more touches and the bread was ready to go into the oven.

“Magnifique!” Buttons declared, looking over at him from where they were by the stove, layering one of the pasta pans. “David, do you cook a lot?”

He snorted. “No, but it’s an essential skill, knowing how to make a good garlic bread.”

“I fucking love garlic bread,” JoJo enthused.

“Oh my God, same,” Cate groaned. She lifted up onto her tipped toes and let her head drop back. “It’s so yummy.”

“Ah-men.” JoJo picked up their glass of water and held it out for Cate to clink with her own wine glass.

“The meatless lasagna is ready to go in the oven!” Buttons declared. They patted their hands dry and whipped their towel into the sink. “Voila, mere mortals!”

David saw the way JoJo looked up at them and nearly melted. The look in JoJo’s eyes was so soft and loving that it caught David off-guard. He smiled at them and sent back to his task: finding aluminium foil to cover the bread with until they were ready for it.

They kicked back. Everyone took a little break and most gathered in the kitchen. A box of wine was set out and there were two freshmen that were barred access, but it was a free for all after that.

JoJo and David made up a pitcher of iced tea for the younger ones and themselves. Buttons passed their wineglass off to Henry after ten minutes and picked up a glass for some iced tea -  _ for solidarity, _ they declared. JoJo smiled, kissed their nose.

They’re adorable, and David’s chest ached.

Why, you ask, voicing a totally obvious question that really doesn’t even need answering?

_ Well _ .

Because David could take one look at them and imagine himself in one of their places. Being held, or holding a loved one. The casual kisses and loving glances. He hadn’t had that in so long. He hadn’t had a long-term partner since college started. There was an old flame he visited last summer when he was home with his Mom and Les, but they had ended that. They both recognized that there was nothing left there for them, no matter how hard they tried to dredge up old feelings.

And, yeah. David was feeling a little lonely. Sue him. He was a normal kid, okay? He had the capacity to realize that he needs more companionship than the singular outlet that was Henry.

He was getting closer to Jack and Elmer. That was a blessing. He was steadily growing to care deeply for them. They were so  _ nice _ and accepting and interesting. Jack was such a brilliant writer, and maybe David was a little in love with him since before they met. That’s besides the point.

David was lonely and he was outletting on the worst places.

Sometimes he would look at Jack and he would imagine trailing his fingers up and down his arms just before he drew him in for kisses. The kinds that made your toes curl and your belly swoop. He wanted to try and comb the stubborn swoops of hair away from his eyes so he could press little kisses all over Jack’s face.

And then he would remember that  _ that is creepy _ , and try to snap himself out of it. He had to break his train of thought apart because they were FRIENDS. Just friends. Budding friends. Friends a month into their relationship. It was no time to be harboring a crush. This was how people get distanced.

They get hit with the  _ Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lead you on. I don’t like you that way. _ And then the kid with a crush gets distanced! They get spaced out because they don’t want to make the other uncomfortable, and they don’t want to mess things up. That breaks up friendships. It makes the person’s feelings, and the  _ Crush _ a memory of the distant past. No more.

And, so... that’s why David kept his mouth shut. He shut his feelings down and off and shoved them in a little mental box labeled  _ Never Look In _ , and shoved to the back of his mental closet to forget about. He lowered his eyes from JoJo and Buttons and down to his glass of tea. His ice cubes had melted and he was left with weak, discolored tea.

He downed it and got himself another glass. He dragged himself back from introspection and focused back in on the conversation where Geoff was speaking.

“Thank you guys,” he said, grinning broadly - a major improvement on the Geoff of hours’ past. “You’ve… you’ve taken the worst situation imaginable and you created something great. I’m never gonna forget this memory. I love you guys.”

Cate cooed loudly from across the room as she shifted the plate of pasta on her lap. “We love you too!” she declared. A statement that couldn’t have been more true.

A junior sat next to Geoff on the little hearth of the fireplace (David recalled his name being Jamie) threw his arms over Geoff’s shoulders and pulled him in close, bubbling nonsense into his neck.

Geoff patted his back and hugged him soundly, a watery grin on his face.

“Oh,” David sighed. He deposited his plate on the arm of the couch and made his way over to join in. Soon, most of the room were all joined in the embrace, saying how much they were going to miss Geoff, and how thankful for their time spent with him.

When they parted, David made his way back to his seat, only to find that his plate had been upturned and his pasta was all over the floor, staining the carpet.

He cursed, grimacing. “Geoff, I’m so sorry,” he said hurriedly as he rushed to find something to clean it up with.

“Honestly.” Geoff shrugged. “My parents own the house. There’s no security deposit, since they’re not renting. Fuck it. Don’t bother with the stain!” he commanded.

David laughed. He scraped his lasagna up from the floor and trashed it. “Yessir!”

David called Jack and gave him all of the details of the gathering the next day. Jack sounded like he was very proud when he expressed his approval of their reactions to it all.

He later heard from Henry that there was a large group that saw Geoff off to the airport. David wished that he could have gone, but the Sabbat limitations barred him from doing so. He did Skype call him that morning and wished Geoff his best. He apologized for not being able to be there, but Geoff wouldn’t hear anything of it. He told him that he would visit when he could, practically promised that he would be there opening night of their show.

_ Which _ , brought up an interesting little detail. Who was going to play the lead opposite of Hugh?

They didn’t exactly have an understudy, or any kids to spare. David and JoJo were in a terrible little fix until... JoJo had a lightbulb moment.

They called him at two o’clock Sunday morning, thier voice frantic.

_ I’ve got it! _ they had declared. It was  _ so _ simple, they said. They’d just have Davey do it!

Davey.

David Jacobs.

It only took about fifteen minutes of convincing.

“I’m the assistant director,” he protested.

“And you can still do that,” they told him.

“What about the scripts? I don’t know the part.”

“No one knows their complete part yet, silly. And about the script, you’ve already read it a billion times, David. You’ve got it on your email.”

He worried at his lip. “Okay… Uhm… I don’t have any other arguments.”

They hummed. “Do you want the part?”

A brief hesitation. “Yes.”

“Alrighty, then. Do you want to keep being my assistant director?”

No hesitation. “Absolutely.”

“Then it’s settled, you goob! You’ve just been promoted to double the work, same measly little pay.” There was a distinct smirk in their voice that David found hilarious. Except…

“I’m not getting paid.”

“ _ Exactly _ .”

And then they hung up on him.

Monday morning was a  _ trip _ . Rehearsals started at two.

Due to a billion and one things, they had a quiet little rehearsal the evening before. A couple of read throughs with the cast over a Skype call, giving everyone a chance to go through and hear their lines read aloud. Henry and David were in front of the same computer. Henry made a few faces at him when David gave his lines, trying to make him crack.

It, uh…  _ totally _ didn’t work…

Ahem.

Monday, they hit the ground running. JoJo gave their opening speech, everyone introduced themselves and they played an icebreaker game.

JoJo realized that they couldn’t exactly start blocking the first day, no matter how anxious they felt about the entire production, but it didn’t stop them from suggesting that they do a quick ol’ walkthrough of scenes 1 and 2. Well… it was less of a walkthrough and more of JoJo going in depth and explaining what they wanted from each scene, and a few notes involving the creative process and where they were in life when writing that part in particular.

Scene one went smoothly. At least, as smooth as it could be.

Scene two was a little rockier, but it was expected, and it was allowed. It was only the first day.

JoJo found themselves giving a speech halfway through the day about comfort on stage. Acting is discomfort, they said, but you can find comfort in your crew - your fellow actors.

“Davey, dear!” they called, standing up. They looked comical with the bullhorn strapped around their wrist. They’d never use it, but David just assumed that it gave them a sick sense of power, to hold a clipboard in one hand and a bullhorn in the other.

“Yes, sweet, sweet lover mine?” he batted his eyelashes from his seat on the floor where he was stretching out his legs.

“C’mere. Hugh, you too.” Obediently, Hugh stood up and padded over to join David and JoJo. “Scene two line-,” they quickly consulted their clipboard, “-okay. Page 25, line 17.”

Hugh flipped through his script, his lips pursed. “A lovers embrace,” he noted.

“Yeah, so like… what would  _ you two _ make that look like? David is facing out towards the crowd, he’s distressed because of the situation with his mother. We all know how it goes when you internalize.” They gestured to David, and he took his cue.

He glanced down at the script, looking at the previous lines before he positioned himself, standing timidly with his arms curled around his middle.

“And your job is to provide comfort,” JoJo directed Hugh. “So… Comfort.”

Hugh bit his lip, looked David up and down before nodding to himself. He stepped behind David and slipped his arms around him, pulling him slightly into his chest.

“Good,” JoJo praised. “You’re still a little tense, David.”

David nodded and relaxed, leaning back into Hugh more, letting his chin tip back to lean against Hugh’s shoulder.

“See! Perfectamundo!” JoJo declared. Their attention was caught up elsewhere, to two people that had just come through the doors. David watched as JoJo squinted at them and casually lifted the bullhorn. “Whomst the fucketh is in my theater?” they demanded, voice all daring and poncy.

The next thing David knew, Buttons was running down the aisle. Not that he  _ really _ took the time to notice that, however - mainly because  _ Jack _ was standing at the back of the theater, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. He looked so adorable standing there, hair all windblown, with a sweatshirt tied around his waist.

_ God. What a fucking cutie. _

Uhm.

“God. What a fucking cutie,” is what David WOULD HAVE said if, you know… he wasn’t DESPERATELY trying to suppress any and all crush he had on Jack.

_ Well, heck. _

He visited with Jack. They laughed and grinned and teased each other. He finally got to introduce Jack to Henry, who he had heard  _ Oh, _ so much about. They snacked on the mac n’ cheese that Jack had bought them until JoJo kicked them all out of the theater after they called an end to rehearsal.

“End of a great day!” they called out over everyone. “I’m proud of you!”

David grinned as they left. He was going to invite Jack out for a coffee, a little celebration of a first rehearsal gone  _ great _ , but before he could say anything, Jack announced that he was going to take his leave.

Henry hummed after Jack was jogging off towards the direction of his dorm building.

“Interesting guy,” Henry granted. “I think I like him, but I’m not sure. You know?”

David huffed a laugh. “I know,” he said. He twisted around and twined an arm over Henry’s shoulders. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll buy you a scone.”

“I just ate,” Henry chided him.

“Oh come on,” David tutted. “It’s a celebration. We gotta.”

Henry rolled his eyes and smiled. “ _ Fine _ ,” he groaned. “But we’re going  _ halfsies _ on one. And we’re getting cherry.”

David snorted. “You’re the boss,” he said. He gestured for Henry to go on his way, and he did, with his chin held high and his shoulders straight.

David laughed loudly behind him as he followed along after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've literally only known for Geoff for two days and I already miss him and want him back in my story but it's whatever D'= (seriously i didn't even know that he was going to be in the story until Wednesday night. but now i love him and he's my precious son)
> 
> I love the fact that It took two months to writer chapter 6 when it was in Jack's POV, but it took under five days to write the entirety of this chapter, from start to finish from Davey's.
> 
> Coincidence????
> 
> Tumblrs:  
> [personal](http://peanutbutterandbitter.tumblr.com) | [newsies](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com) | [falsettos](https://love-devour-covet-keep.tumblr.com)


	8. I AM CONFUSION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay selfie parties are great :)))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: People use the reclaimed word "queer" some in this. Mainly race, I think.  
> I
> 
> /lays down/ it's been a hot minute. Two months, huh?  
> Jinkies.  
> I hope you like this! I'm proud of it, and I makes me smile :')  
> I haven't looked this over Too closely.I'll more than likely comb it through better tomorrow but /shrugs/
> 
> Now! More sarah!!!!!

August 30th, and David was antsy.

They had convinced him. Finally, he was brought to rights.

Sarah was going to be inducted into the Discord. It made him cringe just thinking about it.

“You oughta do it now,” Albert prodded him over voice chat. “I’m serious, Davey. Get it over with. We’re going to get your secrets out some time or another, just give in to the inevitable.”

David groaned, rolling his eyes. “You’re all impossible,” he sniped.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed darkly. He was in a private room in the college library; his books were spread out in front of him, his laptop to the side.

“We’re the best, actually,” Romeo corrected. “Like vanilla bean-ice-cream-topping-off-peach-cobbler type amazing.”

David snorted. “Right.”

“That is the most Southern shit I have ever fucking heard,” Race imput.

“Uhm.” Romeo’s silence was static. “You can’t EVEN judge me, you fucking _Texan_.”

Race gasped and quipped a comment. David went back to his notes, scribbling a few things down on his legal pad. Finally he gave a resigned sigh. “Fine,” he muttered. “Fine!”

All conversation in the chat stopped for a moment.

“Fine?” Albert prodded him. “Is Ms. Jacobs joining us, then?”

David didn’t answer, just pulled his phone closer to himself and typed out a text to Sarah.

 **To: Mama B**  
Saz how do you feel about joining the occult server  
*cult, sorry.

David heard Albie whoop, and romeo was talking a mile a minute, all enthusiasm and energy. “She’s probably going to decline,” David told them. “She doesn’t join many servers.” It wasn’t untrue. Sarah thought that lots of servers served for lots of drama. Sarah didn’t have time for that, apparently.

Specs laughed; there was a loud fumbling noise on their end of the call. “Who could ever resist us?”

He repressed a snort, thinking of all the times he had logged on to the server, only to find its occupants was filled with an unhealthy mixture of Sonic the Hedgehog memes and facts about shark genitalia. He didn’t think that they were related subjects, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask, either.

His phone pinged.

 **From: Mama B**  
Uh is this even a question  
i hear you talk about them all the time i NEED to meet them you fool

And so David R. Jacobs’ fate was sealed.

 **To: Mama B**  
Groan  
They’re gonna be weird at first  
Please don’t try to go out of your way to embarrass me in front of them ok?

 **From: Mama B**  
oh bby.  
just send me the invitation ;)

David let out a breath and switched to the Discord app.

“I see you,” Albie sang. “You just took out an invitation, _huh_?”

David rolled his eyes. “Yes!” he cried out. “She’s on her way.”

“I’m excited,” Race declared. “Can y’all hear me? _Hella_ excited.”

“I feel like we need to be cleaning, or something,” Albie hummed quietly. “Like, this is my fucking house, but I feel the need to make it shiny and cast a good impression.”

“EVERYONE GO THROUGH AND DELETE ANY MESSAGES CONTAINING THE WORDS GOUDA CHEESE! HURRY!” Romeo screeched suddenly, freezing David in his very tracks, stopping mid-sentence.

“What does gouda cheese have to do with-?”

“Don’t ask!” Albie snapped suddenly, sounding shaken. “Just. For the benefit of the group, please do not ask. I can’t go through that again.”

David paused and made a face, but didn’t pursue it. It was for the best.

David got a notification, a DM from Sarah.

 **Sarah J.** today at 19:43  
Wanna see how I enter my house?

David winced.

 **Goliath** today at 19:44  
_oh god_

He clicked back to the main chat just as the #Intros lit up.

 **Bot752** today at 19:44

Greetings! **@Sarah J.** , please fill this shit out before you get welcomed into Fite Club  
Name:  
Age:  
Pronouns:  
sTaTeMeNt Of PuRpOsE:  
Fave song at the moment:  
Favorite character:  
Anything else to add?? Social handles?? YOUR FIRSTBORN C H I L D???:

 **Sarah J.** today at 19:44  
WHASSUP FUCKERS

The result was instantaneous.

Race screamed it in David’s ear, while Romeo went wild trying to type it up.

 **RealMan™ (Romeo he/they)** today at 19:45  
WHATRE U DOIN WITH MY PHNONE

_“WHY DO YOU HAVE MY PHONE?”_

David laughed, when the first thing Sarah did was join the voice chat. As soon as it connected, she yelled “Fuck you, that’s why!”

Albie made a little sound, and David could imagine him covering his mouth with his hands in awe. “I love her,” he breathed. “Oh my God, can we _keep her!?_ ”

“Oh my God,” David groaned. He slumped down and lied his head in his arms atop the table. “This was a mistake.”

“You’ve no idea, brother,” Sarah said, a grin in her voice. “Now: to fill this shit out. God, I hate these things. So mundane.”

She trailed off as she went to typing, muttering along. “Sarah, she/her, uhm……….. _Ancient_.” The type of her keys took up the silence for barely a few seconds before she answered her questionare.

 **Sarah J.** today at 19:45  
Whwhwhwhwhwhat’s up fellow kids.  
Name: Sarah, Saz to my nearest and dearests.  
Age: _too old._  
Pronouns: she/her  
sTaTeMeNt Of PuRpOsE: eat [redacted], suck a [redacted] and sell [redacted].  
Fave song at the moment: peach scone, my dudes.  
Favorite character: CaLlIe _yall sleeping on her and im Not About It_  
Anything else to add?? Social handles?? YOUR FIRSTBORN C H I L D???: firstborn child will be named Leslie. Suffer, David. I’ve an instagram account that im active on, but not rlly on m tumblr, So. :shrug:

“I think that she’s gonna fit in just fine,” Race said surely.

David grinned, glad that she was so readily accepted into the group.

Well, this batch of them, at least.

“Daves, I thought you were working on a paper.”

David winced. “I’m _supposed to be?_ ” His tone made it very much a question.

Race scoffed. “Get that education!” he ordered, clapping between every word. David rolled his eyes.

“Alright, alright, Jesus.” He clicked out of vc without any clamor. He shut his Discord tab and tried _for the life of him_ not to think about all of the havoc that Sarah could cause without him there.

-

It was late by the time he logged back into the app. He was walking back home from the library, his backpack strapped securely over slumped shoulders. His head was dipped, trying to avoid human interaction while he scrolled idly through his phone. The chat wasn’t very active, but that didn’t mean that plenty of dirt hadn’t been spilled over the voice chat.

He grimaced, as the horrid thought occurred to him.

When he messaged her about it, she sent him a Snap of herself. She batted the air and blew a raspberry. That was it. No caption, or text, or voice. No cryptic background clue.

He took a short video of his withered face, muttering, “You kill me, you know that?”

Almost fearfully, he tapped back into the server. It seemed that everyone else had been acquainted with Sarah, as well - except Elmer, since he had to pick up a shift directly after a lecture. Jack didn’t talk a lot in gen, but sent a lot of emojis. David had learned that this was common practice for Jack.

He kind of viewed voice chats like podcasts. He would listen while he painted, or did homework, but he never really participated. Every once in a while he would send a reaction image, or crack a joke, but it was mostly a sparse spattering of emojis sprinkled in with the chat.

He called Jack before he could think better of it.

Jack picked up on the second ring with a chipper little sound to greet David.

“Hey,” David replied, a smile creeping up on him. He bit the side of his lip as he walked on, straightening up a bit.

“You sister joined the group today,” Jack told him matter-of-factly.

David gave a dry chuckle. “I’m scared about what she told you all,” he confessed. “She’s got all my childhood stories. And there are _doozies_.”

Jack snorted. “What trouble could the angel David Jacobs get into. Sounds so fake.”

David scoffed. “You’ve no idea, Jack.” _Really_. David was a bit of a mess in his teenage years, and yes, he was a bit afraid to admit it.

Jack hummed gently and David wished he could see his face, know what he was doing at that moment. “She seemed at home,” he said, breaking the little bubble of quiet. “And she’s fun. I like her.”

Happiness bubbled up in David’s chest - and he didn’t quite know how to digest that, if he was honest. Why would he be so happy about Jack liking his family members?

Well.

He knew why.

But. He could also _sure as hell_ ignore that reason.

He hopped up the steps to his building as they talked about other things, making small talk into the soft September night. He signed in and talked all the way up the elevator ride until he came to his dorm.

He sighed softly. “I’m home,” he said. He backed up and leaned against the door jamb. He shrugged his bag off so that it fell to the floor with a thump.

“Better let you go then,” Jack sighed, “Your boy’s probably asleep.”

“Probably.” He hadn’t even thought about Henry.

David hesitated, not wanting to end the call just yet. He teetered on the balls of his feet, with his temple pressed into the doorjamb

“I’ll see you later, then,” Jack continued, voice soft.

David frowned, seeing that for what it was: and ending.

“Yeah,” he croaked and cleared his throat. “Sorry. I meant good night.”

Jack’s laugh was soft, and David thought that, if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t listen to another thing for the rest of eternity.

“Good night, Davey.” The smile was projected easily in his tone and it mad David feel all warm and bubbly inside. The tone only slightly dampened as he went on, “Tell Henry hello for me.”

David smiled a little. “I will,” he assured him.

They said their goodnights, and David let himself into his room.

* * *

 

David’s alarm went off at nine that Sunday. He muttered curses at it as he fumbled through his bedsheets to find it. Once he shut it off, he sighed in relief.

He lied in bed for another few minutes to continue waking up before going back to his phone to check his notifications. Instagram was the same old whatever. He laughed over a two crack posts Jack had DM’d him on Tumblr before going to discord.

It seemed like most of the chat was just waking up. There were good morning messages drowning out last night’s loopy missents.

Race sent a message and David scrolled all the way back down to see what he said.

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:12  
good morning all i just thought that this would be a good time to remind you all about how I am _insufferably queer_

David snorted a laugh.

 **spotty** today at 09:12  
Big Big Mood

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:13  
Image298.jpg

It was a picture of Race in a surprisingly pleasing picture. He was leaning against a brick wall, hands in his pockets and a cocky smirk on his mouth. A rainbow filter was overlaid over it all

David smiled at it. He began to type out his reaction to the photo when another photo popped up, a video this time, from Spot.

It was short, nearly twenty seconds long.

The camera person's hands shook as they held the device, but it wasn't too distracting, since David was much more interested in what was going in-frame.

Spot smiled at the camera, tossing a wink.

"Oh please," the camera person snorted.

" _Fine_ ," Spot huffed and turned on his heel. He showed off the back of his jacket, the colorful stitch work coming together in a beautiful piece. It was a profile image of a woman's face layered in each color of the gay pride flag. Below her chin was a long ribbon-like patch, reading "We Stand Stronger Together." Spot jerked two thumbs to showcase the item.

"Thrift store finds," Spot announced joyfully before the clip cut off.

 **Goliath** today at 09:14  
That's such a great jacket, Spot! And Race! You look great!

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:14  
cvjhgfredhgtfredswahygtfreds Sopt  
that jacket  
I Want It  
ALSO THANK YOU DAVEY!!

 **Goliath** today at 09:15  
:heart:

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:16  
ARE WE DOING A GAY SELFIE PARTY!?!?!?!?!?!

David laughed so hard he jerked, sending his phone clattering to the floor. After he fished it from under his bed, Specs had posted a picture of himself, a nice overlay filter of the Questioning colors.

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:16  
what a great day to let everyone know that I have no idea what I'm doing with my life in any form :))

 **Goliath** today at 09:16  
And that's okay! You have so much time to figure out labels, if you even WANT them!  
Nothing has to be definitive, now.

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:17  
when will your Het Mom™ ever  
_but anyway specs, you're so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

 **spotty** today at 09:17  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
Deeply Agree

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:17  
IM HERE  
SPOT DRAGGED ME OUT OF BED AND SHOVED MY PHONE IN MY HANDS  
AND Y'ALL ARE HELLA CUTE H E C K  
I WANNA GO NEXT

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:18  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
_Do It Albie I Dare You_

 **spotty** today at 09:18  
Oh, Albie do that one picture  
the "leggy" one

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:18  
oh shit spot you genius  
bendy.jpg

David took a double take at the picture that came along. It was Albie, but his leg was much, _much_ higher than his head, propped up on a refrigerator. He had his chin propped up on his hands, grinning brilliantly.

Across the picture, in a black bar held the caption KINDA GAY. Yes, in all caps.

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:19  
when you're finally thankful your mom made you take dance when you were five, making you love dance well into your teen and adult life

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:20  
I  
PHYSICALLY  
FELL OUT OF BED  
ALBIE WHAT THE HELL IM SO GAY

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:20  
how long can you hold your leg like that?????????

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:21  
_87 years_ :eyes:

 **spotty** today at 09:22  
fake news

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:22  
shhhhh let me be talented.

 **major fuckign mess™** today at 09:22  
! _classynut_

 **Bot752** today at 09:22  
:ok_hand: :weary: :sweap_drop: :sweat_drop: _100:

 **major fuckign mess™** today at 09:23 **  
**you guys kill me  
ALSO  
biprideday2k17.jpg

The picture took more than a few seconds to load and David tapped his foot in wretched anticipation. Finally, it came to and Jack's picture was shown.

It was taken by a second party, with Jack all smiles and teeth. He was wrapped up in a blue, pink and purple flag - the bisexual pride colors. It was wrapped snuggly around his shoulders and he grinned brighter than the sun, surrounded by a crowd of people David assumed were a pride parade. Jack's hair was curly from sweat and tousled from the wind, and his eyes were crinkling at the edges. David's breath was caught in his throat and he found that he could barely look away.

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:24  
!classynut

 **Bot752** today at 09:24  
:ok_hand: :weary: :sweap_drop: :sweat_drop: _100:

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:24  
w o w  
27/10

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:24  
_wow what a n e r d, going outside and shit_  
but seriously _how cute what the heck_

 **spotty** today at 09:25  
you look so sunburnt

 **major fuckign mess™** today at 09:25  
BECAUSE I W A S  
IT WAS SO HOT :(

 **Mama Mod #2** today at 09:26  
not as hot as you :smirk: :wink:

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:26  
e W  
but also like yeah jack f u c _k work it_

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:27  
HI I JUST GOT ON WHAT IS THIS WHY DID NO ONE T E L L M E THIS WAS GOING ON????

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:28  
well henk  
hi sarah _we're doing gay selfiessssssssss_

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:28  
I KNOW THIS N O W  
IM GONNA SHARE

 **Goliath** today at 09:28  
!!!

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:29  
hell yeah hell yeah!!

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:30  
WeCanDoItLesBiHonest.jpg

It was a picture David had seen before - it was of his sister with a bandana around her head, bisexual pride colors streaked over one cheekbone over to the next. She held the pose from the _We Can Do It_ World War II posters, proudly holding her chin high.

David smiled fondly at it

 **Goliath** today at 09:31  
You! Are! So! Pretty!

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:32  
:heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:  
thank yoooooooooooooooooooouuuuu davey :heart:

 **Goliath** today at 09:32  
:heart:

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:33  
GUYS HI IM GAY FOR ALL MY FRIENDS

 **spotty** today at 09:33  
Strong agrEE  
Sarah, you're killin' it

 **Mama Mod #2** today at 09:34  
can i just say that JAck literally yelled? like he yelled  
and chucked his phone

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:35  
jack cant handle pretty people :shrug:

 **spotty** today at 09:35  
you choked on your water a minute ago

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:36  
I DIDNT ASK YOU TO EXPOSE ME LIKE THIS

 **spotty** today at 09:36  
this is what you signed up for when you moved in :shrug:

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:37  
D:  
im going back to mother's

 **Mama Mod #2** today at 09:38  
ok kiddos enough about tha  
prehatmakingpicofjuly.jpg

This one, David gasped aloud at. There were digital stickers over Elmer's eyes, ones decorated in yellow and pink and blue, the pansexual pride colors. On his head was a knitted hat, stitched with the transgender pride colors, of blue, white and pink. It was snuggly on his head with little tufts of hair sticking out. His cheeks were puffed out and he looked, just...

_Adorable, fuck._

Why were all of David's friends to freaking adorable.

 **Goliath** today at 09:38  
Oh my gosh, Elmer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
This is so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 **major fuckign mess™** today at 09:39  
THAT'S MY QPP EVERYONE LOOK HOW GREAT  
I DIE

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:40  
im sobbign  
we're all  
in this household we love and protect elmer einstein

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:41  
MOOD  
GODDAMN MOOD

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:41  
LOOK AT HIS CHEEKS I WANNA PINCH 'EM

 **Goliath** today at 09:42  
This just in - Sarah is a grandmother

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:42  
Why I Oughta--

 **Mama Mod #2** today at 09:43  
:heart: thanks guys :heart:

 **spotty** today  at 09:44  
rip.jpg  
ok but you've all fukn killed albie and i

It was a blurry photo of Albie, red in the face and in the eyes, tears welling up. Spot had his fist up to his mouth in a very Gatsby manner.

David cackled at it and sent a keysmash to the group in response.

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:45  
get fuKT  
_sighs_ y'all are  
so great  
fuck, man  
we're so gay.

 **Lil' Albie** today at 09:46  
i know it's almost comical  
did everyone go? did i get to see everyone's beautiful, queer faces?

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 09:46  
i think so _nods_

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:47  
David didn't though?????????

 **SPECtacular** today at 09:47  
yes! send one, Het Mother™

David felt his stomach twist as he stared at the message. Well.

There was a beat of silence, and then another before a DM popped up, Sarah's profile picture popping up in the upper left hand corner.

 **Sarah J.** today at 09:48  
I thought you're out to them?

 **Goliath** today at 09:48  
I thought I was? Apparently not?  
I mean they joke around a lot  
and i've got the ""het mom"" title but  
_fuck_

 **Sarah J.** today at 09:49  
_hugs_ I'm sorry babe  
Want me to divert them with different topic starters?

David snorted.

 **Goliath** today at 09:50  
Your starters are shit.

 **Sarah J.** today at 09:50  
fOrGiVe Me FoR tRyInG tO hElP :(

 **Goliath** today at 09:51  
You're right, I'm sorry

 **Sarah J.** today at 09:51  
it's fine bab  
do you need me to?

 **Goliath** today at 09:52  
No, but thank you  
I Apparently have to go and do this.

 **Sarah J.** today at 09:52  
Good Luck babe  
You've Got This

David clicked back over to the chat with a hollow aching in his chest.

 **Goliath** today at 09:54  
I don't exactly have any good pictures of myself.  
Most of the pride ones I have are with ex-partners.

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:55  
JUST G R A B O N E  
I know your instagram is full of pride shit :eyes:

 **Goliath** today at 09:55  
more like just the captions are gay :rolling_eyes:

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 09:56  
whatEVER JUST GRAB ONE YOU FOOL

 **Goliath** today at 09:56  
okAY! Christ!!

David set about clicking around his computer, finding nothing there, he went to his phone. There wasn't much material to work with there, either. Like he had said, there were a few pictures of him with ex partners, cuddling or being generally close to them. There was one and an old boyfriend Jason, holding hands as they went through a New York subway. He smiled fondly at the memory of it, but eventually moved on.

He came to the end of his folder of saved selfies and frowned.

He'd have to take one.

He slipped off his mattress and reached under the bed for a storage bin there. He pulled it out and poked through it, eyes narrowed as he searched. He came across a black beanie and grinned, grabbing it. He stood up and kicked the box back under his bed before getting to work.

David pulled the beanie over his head like he was pulling on work gloves. And he got to the grueling task of snapping a semi-decent looking selfie.  
He had it ten minute later.

By then, the chat had moved on from the topic and went back to their normal lives. He nearly just skipped his turn, but he decided that in the end, he had to come out sometime. Even if he thought he already had... like at least eleven times before.  
Did he really give off a Straight Boy™ vibe?

He shuddered at the thought and uploaded his picture.

 **Goliath** today at 10:18  
image37.jpg

It was of him up against one of their walls, the beanie not low enough to hide his curly hair. The beanie was black, with a patch stitched on the front. Bubbly, colorful letters declaring _It's a good day to be gay!_ up above a cute little cartoon rainbow.

The next file he shared was a short video. It was something he decided to include at the very last moment. It was from last semester, if he remembered correctly. It had him looking tiredly into the camera, his expression all in a slump. "I wonder if I can get out of homework by pulling my bi-status," he mumbled. It cut suddenly to David sitting upright in his chair, a pair of glasses on the end of his nose. "Yeah, sorry professor," he said. "I only do homework on bi-weekly stretches. I'm sorry; I'm bi, but I don't make the rules." He shrugged and the video cut off.

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 10:20  
HI I AM THE GAYEST OF GAYS  
D A V I D  
JESUS H CHRIST

 **Saz(manian devil)** today at 10:21  
WAIT  
OH MY FUCK  
THIS IS _OFFENSIVE_ .  
MACKLEMORE DID _NOT_ DIE - ONLY FOR YOU TO STEAL MY BEANIES, **_DAVID_ **

**Goliath** today at 10:22  
Fghnjnhfdnhghgtfrhygtfred

 **Lil' Albie** today at 10:22  
_calLED OUT_

 **Real Man™** today at 10:22  
_shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh everyone shut up im being gay for Davey_

 **Goliath** today at 10:23  
:blush:  
Romeo, please

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 10:23  
HONESTLY SAME  
**_im having to catch my breath_ **  
:heart_arrow:

 **spotty** today at 10:24  
^^^^^  
s h i t  
btw when are you visiting ny?  
_asking for a friend._

 **Lil' Albie** today at 10:25  
_me. i'm the friend he's asking for_ :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

 **Goliath** today at 10:25  
shfjgsbfhbgvfds

 **Real Man™** today at 10:26  
:sob: y'all are so beautiful im cryin

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 10:26  
YESS!!!!!!

 **Goliath** today at 10:27  
So yeah, guys. Definitely queer, too

 **SPECtacular** today 10:27  
I'm sorry Davey :grimace:

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 10:27  
yes it was really fucked of us to assume :(

 **Goliath** today 10:28  
It's fine. Just as long as you all know, now.

 **spotty** today at 10:29  
_nice_  
thanks for telling us, Dave

 **Goliath** today at 10:29  
:grin:  
Thanks for letting me

 **Real Man™** today at 10:30  
Ok now that that's settled: I can't believe you fucks let me miss the gay selfie party i feel so LOVED, thanks.

 **racerback bra: adidas addition** today at 10:30  
:kissing_heart:  
yw babe

 **Real Man™** today at 10:30  
:middle_finger:

The little bubble popped up as Sarah shot David a message.

 **Sarah J.** today at 10:31  
Davey.  
I like them

David smiled, oddly relieved at the revelation.

 **Goliath** today at 10:31  
:grin:  
Me too

He went back to the Gen chat.

 **Goliath** today at 10:32  
**@Real Man™** Share! Your! Selfies!

 **major fuckign mess™** today at 10:32  
Wait hold up how did yall not know davey’s gay??  
He’s dating his roomie henry???????????

David paused, his eyes narrowing in on the message.

In a total, utter confusion, he replied:

 **Goliath** today at 10:33  
**_?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!!?!??!?!??!?!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My newsies Tumblr is @itsnewstome!!!

**Author's Note:**

> [come yell at me on tumblr](https://itsnewstome.tumblr.com)


End file.
